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As submitted confidentially to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on November 30, 2020. This draft registration statement has not been publicly filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and all information herein remains
strictly confidential.
Registration No. 333-     
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
6770
(Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number)
85-3607783
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)
300 Main Street
Stamford, Connecticut 06901
(212) 888-5500
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Heath B. Freeman
Chief Executive Officer
Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp.
300 Main Street
Stamford, Connecticut 06901
(212) 888-5500
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Copies to:
Michael P. Heinz, Esq.
Bradley D. Howard, Esq.
Sidley Austin LLP
One South Dearborn Street
Chicago, Illinois 60603
(312) 853-7000
Frank Lopez, Esq.
Jonathan Ko, Esq.
Paul Hastings LLP
200 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10166
(212) 318-6800
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box. ☐
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer ☐
Accelerated filer          ☐
Non-accelerated filer  ☒
Smaller reporting company ☒
Emerging growth company ☒
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Title of Each Class of Security Being Registered
Amount Being
Registered
Proposed
Maximum
Offering Price
Per Security(1)
Proposed
Maximum
Aggregate
Offering Price(1)
Amount of
Registration
Fee
Units, each consisting of one share of Class A common stock,
$0.0001 par value, and one-sixth of one redeemable
warrant(2)
23,000,000 Units
$ 10.00 $ 230,000,000 $ 25,093
Shares of Class A common stock included as part of the units(3)
23,000,000 Shares
(6)
Redeemable warrants included as part of the units(3)
3,833,333 Warrants
(6)
Redeemable warrants to be distributed to the holders of record
of Class A common stock issued in this offering that are
outstanding immediately after any redemptions of Class A
common stock in connection with the initial business
combination(3)(4)
7,666,666 Warrants
Contingent rights(5)
 23,000,000 Rights
Total
                
$ 230,000,000 $ 25,093
(1)
Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).
(2)
Includes 3,000,000 units, consisting of 3,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and 500,000 redeemable warrants, which may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriter to cover over-allotments, if any.
(3)
Pursuant to Rule 416 under the Securities Act, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.
(4)
Includes 1,000,000 redeemable warrants. If the underwriter’s option is exercised in full, up to 1,000,000 redeemable warrants will be distributed to the holders of the remaining shares of Class A common stock that were issued in this offering that remain outstanding immediately after we redeem the shares of Class A common stock that the holders thereof have elected to redeem in connection with the initial business combination. Such distribution will occur immediately following the time of such redemptions, and immediately prior to the closing of the initial business combination.
(5)
The contingent rights refer to the right attached to each share of Class A common stock issued in this offering to receive a distribution of up to 7,666,666 redeemable warrants (if the underwriter’s option is exercised in full), contingent upon such share of Class A common stock not being redeemed in connection with our initial business combination, and with the number of redeemable warrants to be distributed in respect of each unredeemed share of Class A common stock being contingent upon the aggregate number of shares of Class A common stock that are redeemed. Such rights will remain attached to our Class A common stock and are not separately transferable, assignable or salable, and will not be evidenced by any form of certificate or instrument.
(6)
No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act.
The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED NOVEMBER [•], 2020
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
$200,000,000
Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp.
20,000,000 Units
Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp. is a newly incorporated blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We may pursue an initial business combination target in any business or industry.
This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of: one share of our Class A common stock, one-sixth of one redeemable warrant (or 3,333,333 redeemable warrants in the aggregate, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option) (the “detachable redeemable warrants”) and a contingent right to receive at least one-third of one redeemable warrant following the initial business combination redemption time (as defined below) under certain circumstances and subject to adjustment as further described in this prospectus (the “distributable redeemable warrants”).
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, at the distribution time (as defined below), we will effect a distribution of a number of warrants equal to the number of units issued in this offering multiplied by one-third (i.e., 6,666,666 warrants (or 7,666,666 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full)) (the “Aggregate Warrant Amount”) as follows: (i) to the extent that no public stockholders redeem their shares of Class A common stock issued in this offering (whether acquired in this offering or afterwards) (the “public shares”) in connection with the initial business combination, each public stockholder will receive one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant per public share and (ii) to the extent that any public stockholders redeem any of their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, then (A) one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant will be distributed per each public share that was not redeemed (the “remaining public shares”) and (B) the redeemable warrants in an amount equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount less the number of warrants distributed pursuant to the foregoing clause (A) will be distributed on a pro rata basis to the holders of the remaining public shares based on their percentage of Class A common stock held after redemptions, as distributable redeemable warrants. Public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights are not entitled to receive any distribution of distributable redeemable warrants in respect of such redeemed public shares. The number of distributable redeemable warrants to be distributed in respect of each public share that is not redeemed is contingent upon the aggregate number of public shares that are redeemed in connection with our initial business combination.
The right to receive distributable redeemable warrants will remain attached to our Class A common stock and will not be separately transferable, assignable or salable. The distributable redeemable warrants, together with the detachable redeemable warrants, are collectively referred to herein as the “redeemable warrants”.
Each whole redeemable warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Only whole redeemable warrants are exercisable. The redeemable warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and 12 months from the closing of this offering, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation (the “warrant expiration date”), as described in this prospectus. Subject to the terms and conditions described in this prospectus, we may redeem the redeemable warrants for cash once the redeemable warrants become exercisable. We have also granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any. If the underwriter fully exercises such option, we will issue an additional 3,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and 500,000 detachable redeemable warrants as part of the units, and will distribute at the distribution time up to an additional 500,000 distributable redeemable warrants.
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of our Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account described below calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (net of amounts withdrawn to pay our taxes (“permitted withdrawals”)), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein.

Our sponsor, Oyster Enterprises LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and the underwriter of this offering, Imperial Capital LLC, have committed, pursuant to written agreements, to purchase an aggregate of 5,500,000 warrants (or 6,100,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per warrant in a private placement that will close simultaneously with this offering (the “Private Placement”). Among these warrants, 4,000,000 warrants (or 4,375,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and 1,500,000 warrants (or 1,725,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by the underwriter. We refer to these warrants throughout this prospectus as the “private placement warrants.” Each whole private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants will be placed in trust account described below. The private placement warrants purchased by the underwriter are deemed underwriter’s compensation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) pursuant to Rule 5110 of the FINRA Manual.
Our initial stockholders currently hold 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock (up to 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised). The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. On any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, holders of our Class B common stock and holders of our Class A common stock will vote together as a single class, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rule.
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our units, Class A common stock or warrants. We intend to list our units on The Nasdaq Capital Market LLC, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “OSTRU”. The Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants constituting the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus, subject to certain conditions. Once the securities constituting the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “OSTR” and “OSTRW,” respectively. The distributable redeemable warrants will trade on the first trading day following their issuance at the distribution time, will be fully fungible with the detachable redeemable warrants and will also trade under the symbol “OSTRW.”
We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves risks. Please seeRisk Factorson page 34. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
Neither the SEC nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Per Unit
Total
Price to public
$ 10.00 $ 200,000,000
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)
$ 0.55 $ 11,000,000
Proceeds, before expenses, to us
$ 9.45 $ 189,000,000
(1)
Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate, payable to the underwriter for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriter only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus. The underwriter will receive compensation in addition to the underwriting discount. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Underwriting” beginning on page 34 for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriter.
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $200,000,000, or $230,000,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account at with Continental Stock Transfer and Trust Company acting as trustee and $1,500,000 will be available to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.
The underwriter is offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriter expects to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about           , 2020.
Book-Running Manager
Imperial Capital
, 2020

 
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F-1
We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and we take no responsibility for any other information others may give to you. We are not, and the underwriter is not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.
 
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SUMMARY
This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus, or the context otherwise requires, references to:

“Alden Global” are to Alden Global Capital LLC;

“common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock, collectively;

“distribution time” are to the time at which the distributable redeemable warrants will be distributed, which will occur immediately after the initial business combination redemption time and immediately prior to the closing of our initial business combination;

“equity-linked securities” are to any debt or equity securities that are convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for, shares of Class A common stock issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including, but not limited to, a private placement of equity or debt;

“founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering, and the shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the conversion thereof as provided herein;

“initial business combination redemption time” are to the time at which we redeem the shares of Class A common stock that the holders thereof have elected to redeem in connection with our initial business combination, which will occur prior to the consummation of our initial business combination;

“initial stockholders” are to holders of our founder shares prior to this offering;

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

“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor and the underwriter in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering;

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

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

“redeemable warrants” are to our detachable redeemable warrants included in the units issued in this offering and to the distributable redeemable warrants issuable to the remaining holders of our outstanding public shares (after we redeem any public shares that the holders thereof have elected to redeem in connection with our initial business combination);

“sponsor” are to Oyster Enterprises LLC, a Delaware limited liability company;

“warrants” are to the redeemable warrants and the private placement warrants; and

“we,” “us,” “our,” “company” or “our company” are to Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp.
Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-sixth of one detachable redeemable warrant (or 3,333,333 detachable redeemable warrants in the aggregate, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option) and a contingent right to receive at least one-third of one redeemable warrant following the initial business combination redemption time under certain circumstances and subject to adjustment as further described in this prospectus. An aggregate of up to 6,666,666 distributable redeemable warrants (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option) will be distributed to holders of record of our outstanding Class A common stock at the distribution time. Each whole redeemable warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a
 
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price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole redeemable warrants are exercisable. No fractional detachable redeemable warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole detachable redeemable warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least six units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole detachable redeemable warrant.
Registered trademarks referred to in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriter will not exercise its over-allotment option.
Our Company
General
We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any potential business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target.
Our sponsor is an affiliate of Alden Global, an investment advisory firm focused on deep value, distressed and catalyst-driven investing with a history of value creation in portfolio companies. Through our affiliation with our sponsor and Alden Global, we will seek to acquire a business that we believe would meaningfully benefit from our management team’s experience at maximizing stockholder value by improving operations. We intend to focus on private companies which we believe offer an opportunity for stockholder value creation through the combination of  (i) an attractive valuation entry point, (ii) a clear plan to unlock incremental value through operational and/or strategic improvements, (iii) access to public and private financing sources and (iv) implementation of best-in-class public company governance. We will seek to partner with the owners of private companies to offer them an option to create partial liquidity, transition their legacy to a public company and/or resolve any fragmented ownership or succession planning issues, all while maintaining a singular focus on driving the target business to a higher level of performance and value. We may also look at earlier stage companies that exhibit the potential to change the industries in which they participate, and which offer the potential of sustained high levels of revenue growth.
While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we intend to focus on industries that align with the background of our sponsor and Alden Global. These industries include the media, technology, consumer products, industrials, real estate, real estate services, financial services, hospitality and entertainment sectors, which we refer to as our targeted sectors. We believe that there are many potential business combination targets within these industries that could become attractive public companies. Furthermore, we believe that we are well-positioned to drive ongoing value creation post-business combination, based on the operational and investment experience and track record of our team within our targeted sectors over time. We believe our team is well-suited to identify and execute on opportunities that have the potential to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders. We are not, however, required to complete our initial business combination within our targeted sectors, and, as a result, we may pursue a business combination outside of these industries.
Our Sponsor: Oyster Enterprises LLC, an affiliate of Alden Global
Our sponsor, Oyster Enterprises LLC, is a newly organized special purpose vehicle formed in Delaware. Our sponsor is managed by Oyster AG Manager LLC, a company owned by Randall D. Smith, the Chairman of our board of directors, and Heath B. Freeman, our Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of our board of directors. A majority of the equity interest in our sponsor is owned by Alden Global Opportunities Master Fund, L.P., an investment fund managed by Alden Global. Alden Global, of which Mr. Smith and Mr. Freeman are both founding members, is an investment advisory firm founded in 2008.
Alden Global is not an investment adviser to the company. See “Risk Factors — Past performance by Alden Global and our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.”
 
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Our Management Team
Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp. will be led by Heath B. Freeman, our Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman, Joshua P. Kleban, our Chief Financial Officer and Michael J. Monticciolo, our Chief Legal Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Secretary and a member of our board of directors. Our senior management team will be supported by the Alden Global team, as well as our independent directors, as further described below.
Heath B. Freeman is our Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Freeman is one of the founding members of Alden Global and has been its President since 2014. He has been managing and investing in companies with a deep value, distressed and catalyst-driven approach since he joined Alden Global’s predecessor Smith Management LLC in 2006. Prior to joining Smith Management, Mr. Freeman was an investment banker at Peter J. Solomon Company, where he specialized in mergers & acquisitions, restructurings and refinancings. In addition to his investment research and operational responsibilities at Alden Global, Mr. Freeman currently serves as Vice Chairman of MNG Enterprises, Inc., a company that owns media properties such as The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and the Boston Herald. Mr. Freeman currently serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Freeman Center at Jewish Life at Duke University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University in 2002.
Joshua P. Kleban is our Chief Financial Officer and has been the Chief Financial Officer of Alden Global since 2012. Prior to joining Alden Global, Mr. Kleban was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Attara Capital from 2009 to 2012. From 2006 to 2009, he was Director of Fund Accounting and Administration at Atticus Capital during which time its peak assets exceeded $20 Billion. From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Kleban was Vice President, Finance at Everest Capital. Previously, Mr. Kleban worked for KPMG in Bermuda and Ellis Foster in Canada. Mr. Kleban earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Queen’s University in Canada in 1993 and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada and a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Michael J. Monticciolo is our Chief Legal Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary and a member of our board of directors. Mr. Monticciolo has also served as the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer of Alden Global since joining in March 2014. He has held a variety of positions in the investment management industry as well as at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. From 2007 to 2014, Mr. Monticciolo was the Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Gruss Capital Management, a global event-driven investment manager. From 2006 to 2007, he was an associate general counsel at GSC Group, a credit-focused alternative investment adviser, and additionally was the chief compliance officer of a NYSE-listed business development company. Prior to that, Mr. Monticciolo served at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission as a senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement from 2000 to 2006 and as a staff attorney with the Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Monticciolo earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Ohio State University and a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law.
With respect to the above, past performance of Alden Global, our management team, or any of their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated, (ii) the ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (iii) the ability to assess the risk of potential transactions. You should not rely on the historical record of management or Alden Global and its affiliates as indicative of future performance or operational success of our company. See “Risk Factors — Past performance by Alden Global and our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.” Our management and Alden Global have no experience in operating blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies.
Our Independent Directors
Our independent directors include the following individuals:
Randall D. Smith is the Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Smith is the Chief of Investments of Alden Global and is one of the founding members of the firm. Mr. Smith has been investing in companies with a deep value, distressed and catalyst-driven approach for more than 50 years. Prior to focusing on principal
 
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investing through Alden Global and Smith Management LLC, he established and ran R.D. Smith & Co., a company that became one of the largest enterprises in the world devoted exclusively to financially distressed companies. R.D. Smith & Co. was both a principal investor in distressed and a broker dealer for distressed securities. Mr. Smith exited that business in 1991 to focus exclusively on managing assets for himself and affiliated entities. Prior to creating R.D. Smith & Co., he was a partner at Bear Stearns where he headed the convertible arbitrage department and later focused on distressed investing. Beginning in 2020, Mr. Smith has served as a board member for Tribune Publishing Company. Mr. Smith graduated from Cornell University in 1965 and received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1967.
Maz Akram is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Akram’s background is in private equity investing, portfolio company management, turnarounds/special situations, financings and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Akram is an execution specialist with deep experience in structuring and negotiating complex transactions including cross-border transactions. He has extensive experience in sourcing proprietary deal flow in a variety of business sectors including financial institutions, retail, consumer products and manufacturing/industrial sectors. Mr. Akram currently serves on the board of directors of MNG Enterprises, Inc., a company that owns media properties such as The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and the Boston Herald. Currently at Zeus Capital, Mr. Akram focuses on alternative investments, market infrastructure inefficiencies and event-driven opportunities. He leads in sourcing and executing transactions in the United States, Europe, South America and the Middle East. He also plays a vital role in rolling out strategic goals and corporate development initiatives such as forging mission-critical partnerships, and steering entry into new markets. Previously, Mr. Akram worked at Sun Capital Partners, a $13 billion US private equity firm, and in mergers and acquisitions at Peter J. Solomon Company, a boutique New York investment bank. He was also a member of the investment banking division of Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Akram’s experience also includes projects with several non-for-profit organizations, including affiliates of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in developing countries. Mr. Akram received his A.B. degree, cum laude, in Chemistry from Princeton University with a Minor from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and his MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Martin R. Wade, III is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Wade is Partner in Residence with Catalyst Acquisition Group, an investment firm focusing on the acquisition and restructuring of distressed companies in the United States and internationally, since September 2007. Mr. Wade is the Chief Executive Officer of Broadcaster, Inc., a company engaged in the internet service provider and applications businesses, since 2006. In addition to operating roles, Mr. Wade has been a member of eighteen Boards of Directors and served as Chairman of eight and Chief Executive of three. Mr. Wade currently serves on the board of directors of MNG Enterprises, Inc., a company that owns media properties such as The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and the Boston Herald. Mr. Wade began his career in investment banking and mergers & acquisitions in 1975 at Bankers Trust Company. In 1980, Mr Wade joined Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb and became Head of Exclusive Sales and Divestitures within the M/A Department. In 1992 Mr. Wade joined Price Waterhouse LLP as National Head of Investment Banking with ten offices in the U.S. In 1997, Mr. Wade joined Salomon Brothers to form a Divestiture Sales Group in the Mergers and Acquisition Department. In his thirty-year investment banking career, Mr Wade initiated and advised on over two hundred transactions. Mr. Wade served as the interim Chief Executive Officer of Payless Shoesource, Inc., from August 2017 to January 2019. Payless Shoesource, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2019. Mr. Wade graduated from West Virginia University in 1971 with a B.S. in Business Administration and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the USAF. In 1975, Mr. Wade was honorably discharged from the USAF holding the rank of Captain. Mr. Wade also received an MBA degree from the University of Wyoming in 1975.
Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company that is underperforming its potential in an industry that is otherwise exhibiting stable or improving fundamentals and that can benefit from the strategic and transactional experience of our team to transform the company and maximize stockholder value. We plan to utilize the network and industry experience of our team, our sponsor and their respective affiliates in sourcing business combination opportunities and employing our
 
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acquisition strategy. We have chosen board members with investment banking and M&A experience across a wide range of industries, including media, technology, consumer products, industrials, real estate, real estate services, financial services, hospitality and entertainment, because we believe that examining acquisition opportunities across all of these sectors increases the likelihood of finding an acquisition target that will lead to stockholder value creation.
Upon completion of this offering, members of our team and Alden Global will actively begin the search for a target business by communicating with their network of relationships and other interested parties. These communications will articulate our initial business combination criteria, including the parameters of our search for a target business, and will begin the process of pursuing and reviewing promising leads. We intend to perform rigorous due diligence, negotiate attractive transaction terms and develop a comprehensive operating plan with immediate, mid-term and long-term action items. Upon completion of our initial business combination, we intend to partner with management to implement changes and execute difficult decisions efficiently and effectively.
Competitive Strengths
Our management team has over 100 years of collective deal experience, with a history of working collaboratively in complementary capacities. Our team members have been actively involved with hundreds of companies, whether as owners, investors, investment bankers, directors and advisors and have developed an extensive network of relationships. Alden Global typically focuses on investment opportunities in need of transformation and looks to work with companies to effect such transformations through operational improvements, changes in strategic focus, improved execution, enhanced corporate governance and oversight, and/or by providing strategic capital. We believe this experience and Alden Global’s practices in partnering with companies to effect change are relevant capabilities for private companies seeking a public listing, and present a compelling value proposition for such potential target businesses.
In order to implement our business strategy, we will utilize our competitive strengths including:

Diverse deal experience across a wide range of industries;

Consistent sources of deal flow;

Disciplined and intellectually honest approach for value creation;

Extensive transactional experience and access to capital;

Successful development of a platform capable of driving organic growth and acquisition growth strategies in the industry; and

Partnering with management to improve operations and corporate governance.
We believe that our experience in identifying and sourcing transactions positions us well to appropriately evaluate potential business combinations and select one that will be well received by the public markets. Additionally, we believe that our team’s collaborative experience with companies that are undergoing strategic and/or operational transformations further increases the chances of successfully implementing our strategy and creating value for our stockholders.
Acquisition Criteria
We believe we have the opportunity to pursue a differentiated set of potential acquisition targets due to our team’s and Alden Global’s experience in driving transformative change in businesses in order to create value for stockholders. Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses and set us apart from other sources of capital pursuing target businesses in our areas of focus. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:

Are in fragmented industries capable of serving as a platform investment for future accretive acquisitions;
 
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Possess a defensible market position (as compared to their competitors) with demonstrated advantages that create barriers to entry against new potential market entrants;

Are at inflection points, such as those requiring additional management expertise, preparing to innovate through development of new products or services, or facing situations where we are particularly equipped to drive improved financial performance;

Are poised to benefit from significant embedded and/or underexploited expansion opportunities;

Exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics that we believe represent upside in the public markets based on our company-specific analysis and due diligence review;

Have strong operations and experienced and flexible management teams that provide a platform for driving growth, profitability, and value creation; and

Offer attractive risk-adjusted equity returns for our stockholders.
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
In addition to any potential business candidates we may identify on our own, we anticipate that other target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds, and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.
Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which will encompass, as applicable and among other things, commercial and industry due diligence, 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. To help facilitate this evaluation we will rely on input from our team and third-party due diligence providers. We also intend to leverage the operational and capital allocation planning experience of Alden Global and our team.
We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have neither individually identified nor considered a target business nor have they had any substantive discussions regarding possible target businesses among themselves or with our underwriter or other advisors. Alden Global is frequently made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with our company. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with our company. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.
We are not prohibited from pursuing our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors, or our officers or from making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, our directors, officers or their affiliates. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial
 
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Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
In addition, our distributable redeemable warrants provide our public stockholders with an incentive not to redeem their shares of Class A common stock in connection with our initial business combination. Holders who choose to redeem their shares will lose the right to receive any distributable redeemable warrants. Assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option, public stockholders who choose not to redeem their shares of Class A common stock will share in the distribution of 6,666,666 warrants with other non-redeeming holders and will receive a portion of the additional warrants that were effectively surrendered by redeeming holders. As a result, public stockholders who do not redeem their shares will receive at least one-third of a distributable redeemable warrant per share they hold, and a greater amount if other holders elect to redeem. We believe this structure will likely lead to a lower level of redemptions.
Each of our officers and directors may, directly or indirectly, own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, 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 directors and officers was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. 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 duties or obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor these duties or obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that these duties or obligations will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or to complete our initial business combination.
None of our officers or directors has any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, unless presented to the officer or director specifically in his or her capacity as an officer or director of the company and after the officer or director has satisfied his or her contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties. Any knowledge or presentation of such opportunities may therefore present conflicts of interest.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Initial Business Combination
As required by Nasdaq rules, our initial business combination will be approved by a majority of our independent directors. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting discount and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. We refer to this as the “80% of fair market value test.” If our securities are no longer listed on Nasdaq, we will not be obligated to satisfy the 80% of fair market value test. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community (such as actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). Even though our board of directors will rely
 
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on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. In addition, the application of the standards generally involves a substantial degree of judgment. Accordingly, investors will be relying on the business judgment of the board of directors in evaluating the fair market value of the target or targets. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed initial business combination will provide public stockholders with our analysis of our satisfaction of the 80% of fair market value test, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of a target business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if the board is less familiar or experienced with the target company’s business, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the company’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target business meets the 80% threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our stockholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to stockholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed initial business combination will include such opinion.
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 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 for the post-acquisition company 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 outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires an interest in the target or assets 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 the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of fair market value test. If the 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 and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for the purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.
Corporate Information
Our offices are located at 300 Main Street, Stamford, Connecticut 06901, and our telephone number is (212) 888-5500. We plan to maintain a corporate website. The information that may be contained on or accessible through our corporate website or any other website that we may maintain is not part of this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,”
 
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including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and 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.
 
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THE OFFERING
In deciding whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.”
Securities offered
20,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

one share of Class A common stock;

one-sixth of one detachable redeemable warrant; and

a contingent right to receive distributable redeemable warrants.
Proposed Nasdaq symbols
Units: “OSTRU”
Class A Common Stock: “OSTR”
Redeemable Warrants (whether detachable redeemable warrants or the distributable redeemable warrants): “OSTRW”
Distribution of distributable redeemable warrants at the distribution time
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, at the distribution time, we will effect a distribution of a number of redeemable warrants equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount as follows: (i) to the extent that no public stockholders redeem their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, each public stockholder will receive one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant per public share and (ii) to the extent that any public stockholders redeem any of their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, then (A) one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant will be distributed per each remaining public share and (B) the redeemable warrants in an amount equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount less the number of redeemable warrants distributed pursuant to the foregoing clause (A) will be distributed on a pro rata basis to the holders of the remaining public shares based on their percentage of Class A common stock held after redemptions, as distributable redeemable warrants.
Public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights are not entitled to receive any distribution of distributable redeemable warrants in respect of such redeemed public shares. The distribution of the distributable redeemable warrants in respect of a public share is contingent upon such share not being redeemed in connection with our initial business combination, and the number of distributable redeemable warrants to be distributed in respect of each such unredeemed public shares will be contingent upon the aggregate number of public shares that are redeemed. The contingent rights to receive distributable redeemable warrants will remain attached to our Class A common stock, will not be separately transferrable, assignable or salable, and will not be evidenced by any certificate or instrument.
 
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Distribution time
The distribution of the distributable redeemable warrants is expected to occur immediately following the exercise of the stockholders’ right to redeem shares of Class A common stock in connection with our initial business combination (the “initial business combination redemption time”),and immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination (such distribution time, the “distribution time”).
Trading commencement and separation of Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants
The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We expect the Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless the underwriter informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants. No fractional detachable redeemable warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole detachable redeemable warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least six units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole detachable redeemable warrant. The contingent right to receive distributable redeemable warrants will not detach from our shares of Class A common stock.
Separate trading of the Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on
Form 8-K
In no event will the Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants be traded separately until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering. If the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option.
The units will automatically separate following our initial business combination.
Trading commencement of distributable redeemable warrants
We expect that the distributable redeemable warrants will become tradable on the first trading day following the distribution time. Once issued, the distributable redeemable
 
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warrants will be fully fungible with the detachable redeemable warrants and will trade under the same ticker symbol. No fractional distributable redeemable warrants will be issued upon the distribution of the distributable redeemable warrants, no cash will be paid in lieu of fractional distributable redeemable warrants and only whole distributable redeemable warrants will trade. The number of shares of Class A common stock that a public stockholder must hold to receive a whole distributable redeemable warrant at the distribution time will depend on the number of shares of Class A common stock issued in this offering that remain outstanding after any redemptions of such shares in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that any of our public stockholders elect to redeem shares of Class A common stock issued in this offering, the holders of the remaining such shares will receive a greater number of distributable redeemable warrants. The contingent right to receive such warrants will remain attached to the shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering and will not be separately transferrable, assignable or salable.
Units:
Number outstanding before this offering
0
Number outstanding after this
offering
20,000,000(1)
Common stock:
Number outstanding before this offering
5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock(2)(3)
Number outstanding after this
offering
25,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock(1)(3)(4)
Warrants:
Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering
5,500,000(1)
Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the private placement
8,833,333(1)(5)
Number of warrants outstanding after distribution of warrants in connection with our initial business combination
15,499,999(1)(6)
Exercisability
Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock and only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade.
Exercise price
$11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination
 
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at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by us and, (i) in the case of any such issuance to our initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial stockholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance, and (ii) without taking into account the transfer of founder shares or private placement warrants (including if such transfer is effectuated as a surrender to us and subsequent reissuance by us) by our initial stockholders in connection with such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”)), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the 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, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described below in “Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00” and “Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger described below in “Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
Exercise period
The warrants will become exercisable on the later of:

30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, or

12 months from the closing of this offering;
provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement).
We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the redeemable warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our reasonable best efforts to file and, within 60 business days after such closing, have an effective registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the
 
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redeemable warrants, and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the redeemable warrants expire or are redeemed; provided, that if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a redeemable warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of redeemable 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 be required to use our reasonable best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an applicable exemption is not available.
The holders of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering.
The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation; provided, however, that the private placement warrants issued to the underwriter will not be exercisable more than five years after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(i). On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.
Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants) at a price of $0.01 per warrant:

in whole and not in part;

upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the 30-day redemption period; and

if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our 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 we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like
 
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and certain issuances of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities).
We will not redeem the warrants unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. 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.
If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.365 per whole warrant. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the ten trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants” for additional information.
Except as set forth below, none of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees.
Redemption of warrants when the price of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share
Commencing 90 days after the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (including the private placement warrants):

in whole and not in part;

at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares of Class A common stock determined by reference to the table set forth under “Description of Securities —
 
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Redeemable warrants” based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (as defined below) except as otherwise described in “Description of Securities — Redeemable Warrants” and “— Private Placement Warrants”;

if, and only if, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per public share (as adjusted per stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and certain issuances of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities); and

if, and only if, the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and certain issuances of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities), the private placement warrants are concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding redeemable warrants, as described above.
The “fair market value” of our Class A common stock for the above purpose shall mean the volume weighted average price of our Class A common stock as reported during the ten trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the ten-trading day period described above ends. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.365 of a share of Class A common stock per whole warrant (subject to adjustment).
No fractional shares of Class A common stock will be issued upon redemption. If, upon redemption, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the holder. Please see the section entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants” and “— Private placement warrants” for additional information.
Founder shares
On November 16, 2020, our sponsor acquired 5,750,000 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. As such, our initial stockholders will collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Up to an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares will be subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised so that our initial
 
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stockholders will maintain ownership of 20% of our common stock after this offering. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial stockholders at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.
An aggregate of up to 750,000 of such founder shares held by our sponsor are subject to forfeiture in the event the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised in full, as further described herein.
The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that:

the founder shares are shares of Class B common stock that automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, or at any time prior thereto at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein;

the holders of the founder shares have the right to elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination;

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

our initial stockholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with
 
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respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of our initial business combination. Our initial stockholders have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need only 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 1,250,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 20,000,000 shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction in order to have our initial business combination approved; and

the founder shares are entitled to registration rights.
Transfer restrictions on founder
shares
Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing 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, capital stock exchange 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 (except as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the “lockup.”
Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights
The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive
 
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such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination (net of the number of shares of Class A common stock redeemed in connection with our initial business combination), any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination and any warrants issued upon the conversion of working capital loans made to us. Holders of founder shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time. Securities could be “deemed issued” for purposes of the conversion rate adjustment if such shares are issuable upon the conversion or exercise of convertible securities, warrants or similar securities.
Voting
Holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, except as required by law. Each share of common stock will have one vote on all such matters. However, only the holders of the founder shares will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
Private placement warrants
Our sponsor and the underwriter have committed, pursuant to written agreements, to purchase an aggregate of 5,500,000 private placement warrants (or 6,100,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per whole warrant ($5,500,000 or $6,100,000 in the aggregate if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the Private Placement. Among the private placement warrants, 4,000,000 warrants (or 4,375,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and 1,500,000 warrants (or 1,725,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by the underwriter. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable for one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein.
A portion of the purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that, at the time of closing, $200.0 million (or $230.0 million if the underwriter exercises its over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of
 
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our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless.
The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable in certain redemption scenarios and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. The private placement warrants purchased by the underwriter are deemed underwriter’s compensation by FINRA pursuant to Rule 5110 of the FINRA Manual.
Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).
Cashless exercise of private placement warrants
If holders of private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the ten trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees, is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they are affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the redeemable warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
 
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Proceeds to be held in trust account
Nasdaq rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $200,000,000, or $10.00 per unit ($230,000,000, or $10.00 per unit, if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be placed into a U.S.-based trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. These proceeds include $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions.
Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our tax obligations (less up to $100,000 interest to pay dissolution expenses), the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (c) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.
Anticipated expenses and funding sources
Except as described above with respect to the payment of taxes, unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government securities 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. We will disclose in each quarterly and annual report filed with the SEC prior to our initial business combination whether the proceeds deposited in the trust account are invested in U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds or a combination thereof. Based upon current interest rates, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $400,000 of interest annually assuming an interest rate of 0.2% per year. Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from:

the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the
 
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private placement warrants not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $750,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $750,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and

any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account, unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination.
Conditions to completing our initial business combination
There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting discount and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into our initial business combination. Nasdaq rules also require that our initial business combination will be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses or we are considering our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm. 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 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 for the post-acquisition company 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 outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires an interest in the target or assets sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial
 
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business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of fair market value test. If the 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 and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for the purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.
Permitted purchases of public shares by our affiliates
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriter. However, 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 creditors (see “Risk
 
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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). The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial stockholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our business combination or otherwise.
Manner of conducting redemptions
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval, while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval.
We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with such rules.
If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

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

file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
Upon the public announcement of our business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender
 
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offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete our initial business combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will:

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

file proxy materials with the SEC.
If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need only 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 1,250,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 20,000,000 shares
 
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sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction in order to have our initial business combination approved. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public stockholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates delivered, or shares tendered electronically, by public stockholders who elected to redeem their shares.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed 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.
 
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Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding in excess of 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold stockholder vote
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our public stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our public stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our business combination.
Redemption rights in connection with proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain charter provisions. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions (other than amendments relating to the appointment of directors, which require the approval by the holders of at least 90% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon) related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts, except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein and to issue the distributable redeemable warrants) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust
 
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account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) or applicable stock exchange rules. Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, pre-initial business combination activity or on our initial business combination or that would entitle holders thereof to receive funds from the trust account. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will 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. Our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (i) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or (ii) with respect to any other material 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 (net of permitted withdrawals) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our initial stockholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with certain proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation.
Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination
On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be released to us. We will use these funds to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “— Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination.” We will use the remaining funds to pay the underwriter its deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt instruments, or not all of the funds released from the trust
 
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account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 24-month period, we will: (i) cease all operations, except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals and $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our detachable redeemable warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the 24-month time period.
Our initial stockholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time period.
The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.
 
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If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the 24-month period, we may seek an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the period of time we have to complete an initial business combination beyond 24 months. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require that such an amendment be approved by holders of 65% of our outstanding common stock.
Limited payments to insiders
There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements, consulting fees, or cash or non-cash payments made to our initial stockholders, directors or officers, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, the following payments will be made to our initial stockholders, directors or officers, or our or their affiliates, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:

repayment of up to $350,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor;

payment of a one-time cash bonus of $150,000 to each of Mr. Maz Akram and Mr. Martin Wade, two of our independent directors, upon the successful completion of our initial business combination;

reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing our initial business combination; and

repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor, Alden Global, or certain of our directors and officers to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1.5 million of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. These warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.
Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our initial stockholders, directors or officers, or our or their affiliates.
Audit committee
We will establish and maintain an audit committee, which will be composed entirely of independent directors to, among other things, monitor compliance with the terms described above and the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to immediately take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management — Committees of the Board of Directors — Audit committee.”
 
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Conflicts of interest
None of our officers or directors has any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, unless presented to the officer or director specifically in his or her capacity as an officer or director of the company and after the officer or director has satisfied his or her contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties. Members of our management team may be required to present potential business combinations to other entities to whom they have fiduciary duties before they present such opportunities to us. Any knowledge or presentation of such opportunities may therefore present conflicts of interest.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any business opportunity offered to any of our officers or directors shall be presented to us only to the extent that such business opportunity is offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as our director or officer and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
For more information, see the section entitled “Management — Conflicts of Interest.”
Indemnity
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 by a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only
 
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assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. None of our officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
(1)
Assumes no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsor of an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares.
(2)
Includes up to an aggregate of 750,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised.
(3)
The shares of common stock included in the units are Class A common stock. Founder shares are classified as shares of Class B common stock, which shares are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”
(4)
Represents 20,000,000 public shares and 5,000,000 founder shares.
(5)
Includes 3,333,333 detachable redeemable warrants issued as a part of the units.
(6)
Includes 6,666,666 distributable redeemable warrants. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, at the distribution time, we will effect a distribution of a number of redeemable warrants equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount as follows: (i) to the extent that no public stockholders redeem their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, each public stockholder will receive one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant per public share and (ii) to the extent that any public stockholders redeem any of their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, then (A) one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant will be distributed per each remaining public share and (B) the redeemable warrants in an amount equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount less the number of redeemable warrants distributed pursuant to the foregoing clause (A) will be distributed on a pro rata basis to the holders of the remaining public shares based on their percentage of Class A common stock held after redemptions, as distributable redeemable warrants. Public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights are not entitled to receive any distribution of distributable redeemable warrants in respect of such redeemed public shares.
 
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Risks
We are a newly incorporated company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. Please see “Proposed Business — Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419” for additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in this prospectus.
Summary Financial Data
The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.
November 16,
2020
Balance Sheet Data:
Working capital (deficiency)
$ (243,000)
Total assets
$ 272,000
Total liabilities
$ 268,000
Total stockholder’s equity
$ 4,000
 
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RISK FACTORS
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
We are a newly incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a newly incorporated company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Past performance by Alden Global, our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us or of the future performance of any business we may acquire.
Information or other references herein regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, Alden Global and members of our management team is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance, including related to acquisitions, of Alden Global, businesses associated with Alden Global, or members of our management team is not a guarantee: (1) that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; (2) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate; or (3) that we will be able to adequately assess the risks of a potential transaction. You should not rely on the historical record and performance of Alden Global, businesses associated with Alden Global or members of our management team as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. An investment in us is not an investment in Alden Global, and does not in any way create an advisory relationship between Alden Global and any of our stockholders. None of our sponsor, officers or directors or Alden Global has had experience with a blank check company or special purpose acquisition company in the past. Alden Global is not acting as our investment adviser.
Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, 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 listing requirements or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, the Nasdaq rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by 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. Even if we seek stockholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our outstanding public shares do not approve of the business combination we consummate. Please see “Proposed Business — Effecting
 
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our Initial Business Combination — Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote any 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 only 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 1,250,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 20,000,000 shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction in order to have our initial business combination approved. We expect that our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 20% of our 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 our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees 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.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Additionally, 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. 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.
If you elect to exercise your redemption rights with respect to your shares of Class A common stock, you will not receive any distributable redeemable warrants.
In connection with our initial business combination, public stockholders will have the opportunity to exercise their right to redeem their shares of Class A common stock for cash. However, our distributable redeemable warrants will be distributed only to the holders of record of those shares of our Class A common stock that remain outstanding after such redemptions. Accordingly, to the extent that you elect to redeem your shares of Class A common stock, you will receive no distributable redeemable warrants in respect of such shares. The contingent right to receive the distributable redeemable warrants will remain attached to our Class A common stock, will not be separately transferable, assignable or salable, and will not be evidenced by any certificate or instrument.
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 underwriter 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. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s
 
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“penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us. 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 the deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights and, therefore, 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. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B common stock results 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 at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, the amount of deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriter is not required to be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. 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 stock.
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 are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your stock in the open market; however, at such time our stock may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering 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 this 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 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.
 
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We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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 detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless, and our distributable redeemable warrants will never be distributed.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this 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. For example, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) 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 outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time 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 (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. 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 detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless, and no distributable redeemable warrants will have been distributed. Please 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.
If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor, Alden Global or our management to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to obtain such loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to spread throughout the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic”. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis and is adversely affecting the economies and financial markets worldwide, and could materially and adversely affect the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner, or if COVID-19 causes a prolonged economic
 
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downturn. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses, and the inability to accurately predict the future impact of the pandemic on businesses, has also made determinations and negotiations of valuation more difficult, which could make it more difficult to consummate a business combination transaction.
The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be materially adversely impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being available on terms acceptable to us or at all.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from the public, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or detachable redeemable warrants or a combination thereof in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation or other duty to do so. Please see “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Permitted Purchases of Our Securities” for a description of how such persons will determine from which stockholders to seek to acquire shares or warrants.
Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such public stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling public stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The price per share paid in any such transaction 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. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of 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 such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the 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 detachable redeemable warrants could be to reduce the number of such warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. Please see “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Permitted Purchases of Our Securities” for a description of how our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
 
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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 initially 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 addition, we will require that beneficial holders identify themselves. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. Please see “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Tendering Stock Certificates in connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (1) the completion of our 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 to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an 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 this offering, or with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering before they receive funds from our trust account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of redeemable warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to such warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or redeemable 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 intend to have our units listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the date of this prospectus and our Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants listed on or promptly after their date of separation. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the Nasdaq listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. In general, we must maintain a minimum number in stockholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum of 300 public holders. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial
 
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listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4 per share, our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5 million and we would be required to have a minimum of 300 round lot holders of our unrestricted securities (with at least 50% of such round-lot holders holding unrestricted securities with a market value of at least $2,500). We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If Nasdaq delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list such 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;

a determination that our Class A common stock is 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 preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A common stock and redeemable warrants will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, Class A common stock and redeemable warrants will qualify as covered securities under such statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our 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, including in connection with our initial business combination.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the U.S. securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet of our company demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of our initial business combination. Please see “Proposed Business — Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419” for a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold 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
 
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restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not restrict 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. As a result, you will continue to hold the Excess Shares and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your Excess 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their stock, and our detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless, and no distributable redeemable warrants will be distributed.
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there will be numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this 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. Although our initial stockholders, directors, officers, or any of their respective affiliates may invest in us after the date of this offering, they are under no obligation or other duty to do so. Please see “Proposed Business — Certain Potential Conflicts of Interest” for a discussion on certain limitations related to other resources Alden Global may, but is under no obligation or other duty to, provide us.
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 public shares that are redeemed, 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 and completing a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, 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 detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless, and no distributable redeemable warrants will have been distributed. Please 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.
If the funds not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least 24 months from the closing of this 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 24 months from the closing of this offering, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least 24 months from the closing of this offering; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision
 
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(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 entered 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, 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 detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless, and no distributable redeemable warrants will have been distributed. Please 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.
If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor, Alden Global or our management to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to obtain such loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $750,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We currently expect our offering expenses to be $750,000 but in the event that our offering expenses exceed $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, Alden Global or our management to operate or may be forced to liquidate. None of our sponsor, Alden Global or our management is under any obligation or other duty to loan funds to us in such circumstances. Any such loans would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless, and no distributable redeemable warrants will have been distributed. Please 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.
The securities in which we invest the proceeds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the interest income available for payment of taxes or reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The net proceeds of this offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants, in the amount of $200,000,000 (assuming the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised), may only be invested in direct U.S. Treasury obligations having a maturity of 185 days or less, or in certain money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. 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 of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may withdraw to pay income taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income. If the balance of the trust account is reduced below $200,000,000 as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
 
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Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and 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 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.
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 or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue. 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.
Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by 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) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per
 
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share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of permitted withdrawals, except as to any claims by a third party that executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether any such waiver is enforceable) and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification 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 officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our independent 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) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of permitted withdrawals, 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 certain instances. For example, the cost of such legal action may be deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or the independent directors may determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. 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.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers, and our obligation to indemnify our directors and officers may have certain adverse consequences.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive (and any other persons who may become an officer or director prior to the initial business combination will also be required to waive) any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and not to seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
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
 
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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, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per share amount that would otherwise be received by our public stockholders in connection with our liquidation would be reduced.
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 compliance with other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to.
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of 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. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our primary business objective, which is a business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection
 
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with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an 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 this offering, or with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) absent a business combination, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to consummate our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless and no distributable redeemable warrants will have been issued. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. Please 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.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and 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 will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly.
Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
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 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 24 months from the closing of this offering 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 this offering 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 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to
 
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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 24 months from the closing of this offering 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.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination and you will not be entitled to any of the corporate protections provided by such a meeting.
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.
We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the redeemable warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise redeemable warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a “cashless basis” and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the redeemable warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our reasonable best efforts to file with the SEC, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the redeemable warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the redeemable 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 of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the redeemable warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their redeemable warrants on a cashless basis, in which case the number of shares of our Class A common stock that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum number of shares equal to 0.365 of a share of our Class A common stock per whole warrant (subject to adjustment). However, no redeemable 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 redeemable warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder or an exemption from registration or qualification is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a redeemable warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of redeemable 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 reasonable best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be
 
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required to net cash settle any redeemable warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the redeemable warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the redeemable warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the redeemable 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 redeemable 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. If and when the redeemable 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.
The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the shares of Class A common stock, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the shares of Class A common stock. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within 15 business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
If you exercise your redeemable warrants on a “cashless basis,” you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
There are circumstances in which the exercise of the redeemable warrants may be required or permitted to be made on a cashless basis. First, if a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Second, if a registration statement covering the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available; if that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. Third, if we call the redeemable warrants for redemption under certain circumstances, warrant holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption. In the event of an exercise on a cashless basis, a holder would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the redeemable warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the redeemable warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (defined above) over the exercise price of the redeemable warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.365 per whole warrant, and the number of shares of our Class A common stock received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised the warrant for cash. For example, if the holder is exercising 875 redeemable warrants at $11.50 per share through a cashless exercise when the shares of our Class A common stock have a fair market value of $17.50 per share when there is no effective registration statement, then upon the cashless exercise, the holder will receive 300 shares of our Class A common stock. The holder would have received 875 shares of our Class A common stock if the exercise price was paid in cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of shares of our Class A common stock upon a cashless exercise of the redeemable warrants they hold.
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders, the underwriter 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 an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale
 
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of their founder shares after those shares convert to shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor, the underwriter and their 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 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 complete. 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 common stock owned by our initial stockholders or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants owned by our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees or warrants issued in connection with working capital loans are registered for resale.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating target businesses in a particular industry nor have we identified 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 in any industry or sector. However, we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet identified or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’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 a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders 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.
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 in sectors which may be 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 the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors 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.
 
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Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these 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 rules, 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, 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 detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless and no distributable redeemable warrants will have been issued.
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, which could subject us to volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel.
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 officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
A slowdown in economic growth in the markets that our business target operates in may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, the value of its shares and the trading price of our shares following our business combination.
Following the business combination, our results of operations and financial condition may be dependent on, and may be adversely affected by, conditions in financial markets in the global economy, and, particularly in the markets where the business operates. The specific economy could be adversely affected by various factors, such as political or regulatory action, including business corruption, social disturbances, terrorist attacks and other acts of violence or war, natural calamities, interest rates, inflation, commodity and energy prices and various other factors which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, value of our shares and the trading price of our shares following the business combination.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view.
In addition, if our board of directors is not able to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, in connection with Nasdaq rules that require that an initial business combination be
 
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with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting discount and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account), we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria.
Other than the two circumstances described above, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm.
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 stock 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 described herein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 10,000,000 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. Immediately after this offering, there will be 80,000,000 and 5,000,000 (assuming in each case, that the underwriter has not exercised its over-allotment option) 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 shares reserved upon the conversion of the Class B common stock. Shares of Class B common stock are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. Immediately after this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of 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 upon 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 described herein. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote on any initial business combination, pre-initial business combination activity or 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 investors in this offering;

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

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

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, common stock and/or redeemable warrants.
 
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Resources could be wasted in researching initial business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless and no distributable redeemable warrants will have been issued.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless and no distributable redeemable warrants will have been issued. Please 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 officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other responsibilities. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our business combination. Each of our officers and directors is engaged in several other business endeavors for which they may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers and directors are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs.
If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. Please see “Management — Directors and Executive Officers” for a discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs.
We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, 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 other 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 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, we do not currently expect that any of them will do so. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business
 
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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.
In addition, the officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. 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, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may cause our key personnel to have conflicts of interest in determining whether to proceed with a particular business combination.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our 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. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may 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 business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders 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.
The officers and directors of an initial business combination 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 initial business combination 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 initial business combination 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. As a result, we may need to reconstitute the management team of the post-transaction company in connection with our initial business combination, which may adversely impact our ability to complete an initial business combination in a timely manner or at all.
 
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Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity or other transaction should be presented.
Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and officers and directors are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities (such as operating companies, investment vehicles or other blank check companies) that are engaged in a similar business. We do not have employment contracts with our officers and directors that will limit their ability to work at other businesses. As a result, our officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other entity with which they may become involved.
As described in “Proposed Business — Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” and “Management — Conflicts of Interest,” each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. 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 duties or obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor these duties or obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity (including as described in “Proposed Business — Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets”). These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Please see “Management — Directors and Executive Officers,” “Management — Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for a discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and potential conflicts of interest.
Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.. Please see “Proposed Business — Certain Potential Conflicts of Interest” for additional information.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other businesses, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with or competitive with our sponsor, officers and directors, and their respective affiliates. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Management — Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting,
 
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any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, regarding the fairness to our stockholders from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, 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 (other than with respect to any public shares they may hold), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On November 16, 2020, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares of common stock upon the completion of this offering. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. An aggregate of up to 750,000 of such founder shares held by our sponsor are subject to forfeiture in the event the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised in full, as further described herein.
In addition, our sponsor and the underwriter have subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 5,500,000 (or 6,100,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants for a purchase price of $5,500,000 (or $6,100,000) if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $1.00 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein.
The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: (1) only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to our initial business combination; (2) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; (3) our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to: (a) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (b) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (c) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (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 24 months from the closing of this offering); (4) the founder shares are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein; and (5) the holders of founder shares are entitled to registration rights.
The personal and financial interests of our sponsor, officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the deadline for completing our initial business combination nears.
 
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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.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt 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;

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 security is outstanding;

our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

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

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

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

limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may materially negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will provide us with $200,000,000 (or $230,000,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our initial business combination (which includes $7,000,000, or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full, of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).
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 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
 
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several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:

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

dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
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.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. Upon loss of control of a target business, new management may not 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 only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target 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. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.
 
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We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 (such that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules), or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our 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, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, 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 recent 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.
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 not less than 65% of our 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.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions (other than amendments relating to the appointment of directors, which require the approval by the holders of at least 90% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon) related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement warrants sale into the trust account and not release such amounts, 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 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 65% of our common stock. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that it may be amended by holders of a majority of our common stock, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL, or applicable stock exchange rules. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or on our initial business combination. Our initial stockholders, who will beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and
 
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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 will govern 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 stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an 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 this offering, or with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder 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, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our sponsor, officers and directors. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
Certain agreements related to this offering may be amended without stockholder approval.
Certain agreements, including the underwriting agreement relating to this offering, the letter agreement among us and our sponsor, officers and directors, and the registration rights agreement among us and our initial stockholders, may be amended without stockholder approval. These agreements contain various provisions that our public stockholders might deem to be material. While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any such amendments 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.
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.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet identified any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants 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 from Alden Global) or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. Alden Global is not 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. 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
 
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growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, 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 detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless and no distributable redeemable warrants will have been issued.
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 the consummation of our initial business combination and may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon the closing of this offering, our initial stockholders will own 20% of our outstanding common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). In addition, the founder shares, all of which are held by our initial stockholders, will entitle the holders to elect all of our directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will have no right to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended by the holders of at least 90% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. As a result, you will not have any influence over the election of directors prior to our initial business combination.
Neither our initial stockholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. 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 common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their influence over these actions. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will exert significant influence over actions requiring a stockholder vote. Please see “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Permitted Purchases of Our Securities.”
Our sponsor contributed $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A common stock.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A common stock and none to the redeemable warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the redeemable warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 91.8% (or $9.18 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.82 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. In addition, because of the anti-dilution rights of the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A common stock.
We may amend the terms of the redeemable warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of such warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding redeemable warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your redeemable warrants could be increased, the redeemable warrants could be converted into cash or stock (at a ratio different than initially provided), the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a redeemable warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our redeemable 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
 
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that the terms of the redeemable warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity, mistake (including to conform the warrant agreement to the description thereof herein) or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding redeemable warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of such warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the redeemable warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding redeemable warrants approve of such amendment and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the redeemable warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding redeemable warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock (at a ratio different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant. Our initial stockholders may purchase redeemable warrants with the intention of reducing the number of redeemable warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to warrant holders for approval, including amending the terms of the redeemable warrants in a manner adverse to the interests of the registered holders of redeemable warrants. While our initial stockholders have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for such transactions, there is no limit on the number of our redeemable warrants that our initial stockholders may purchase and it is not currently known how many redeemable warrants, if any, our initial stockholders may hold at the time of our initial business combination or at any other time during which the terms of the redeemable warrants may be proposed to be amended. Please see “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Permitted Purchases of Our Securities.”
Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope 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 “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 (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
 
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We may redeem your unexpired redeemable warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making such warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding redeemable warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. If and when the redeemable warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to: (1) exercise your redeemable warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so (2) sell your redeemable warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your redeemable warrants; or (3) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding redeemable warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your redeemable warrants.
In addition, we may redeem your redeemable warrants after they become exercisable for $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their redeemable warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A common stock. Please see “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants — Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share.” Any such redemption may have similar consequences to a cash redemption described above. In addition, such redemption may occur at a time when the redeemable 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 Class A common stock had your warrants remained outstanding.
Our redeemable warrants and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We will be issuing detachable redeemable warrants to purchase 3,333,333 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 3,833,333 shares of our Class A common stock if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus, and also distributing warrants (which will be in the form of distributable redeemable warrants and, to the extent any public stockholders redeem Class A common stock in connection with the initial business combination, distributable redeemable warrants and private placement warrants) to purchase 6,666,666 shares of our Class A common stock in connection with the closing of our initial business combination (or up to 7,666,666 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), each at a price of $11.50 per whole share (subject to adjustment as provided herein). Simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we also will be issuing 5,500,000 warrants (or 6,100,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per warrant in a private placement that will close simultaneously with this offering, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Among the private placement warrants, 4,000,000 warrants (or 4,375,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and 1,500,000 warrants (or 1,725,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by the underwriter. Our initial stockholders currently hold 5,750,000 founder shares (up to an aggregate of 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised). The founder shares 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, Alden Global or certain of our officers and directors make any working capital loans, up to $1.5 million of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.00 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 transaction, 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
 
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business. Any such issuance will increase the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete the business transaction. 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 redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees: (1) they will not be redeemable by us, except as otherwise set forth herein; (2) they (including the 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 or the underwriter, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; (4) the holders thereof (including with respect to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights; and (5) with respect to private warrants held by the underwriter, they will not be exercisable more than five years from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(i).
Because each unit contains one-sixth of one 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-sixth of one detachable redeemable warrant. Because, pursuant to the warrant agreement, the redeemable warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares, only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time. While holders of units (or the underlying shares of Class A common stock) who elect not to redeem such shares in connection with our initial business combination will also receive a distribution of redeemable warrants in the form of distributable redeemable warrants, it is likely that the number of distributable redeemable warrants issued to any such holder will not be a whole number. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one whole 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 detachable redeemable warrants and distributable warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
A provision in our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, if (i) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described below in “Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00” and “Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger described below in “Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 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.
The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the redeemable warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriter.
 
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In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with representatives of the underwriter, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriter believed it reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A common stock and warrants underlying the units, include:

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

prior offerings of those companies;

our prospects for acquiring an operating business;

a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;

our capital structure;

an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying suitable acquisition opportunities;

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

other factors as were deemed relevant.
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering size, price and the terms of the units, including the Class A common stock and warrants underlying the units, is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
There is currently no market for our securities. Stockholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
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 include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure. 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 (“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 24 months from the closing of this offering.
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
 
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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.
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 fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that fiscal 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.
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 initial business combination.
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, 2021. 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. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target 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 initial business combination.
 
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Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Section 203 of the DGCL affects the ability of an “interested stockholder” to engage in certain business combinations, for a period of three years following the time that the stockholder becomes an “interested stockholder.” We will elect in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation not to be subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. Nevertheless, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that have the same effect as Section 203 of the DGCL, except that it will provide that affiliates of our sponsor and their transferees will not be deemed to be “interested stockholders,” regardless of the percentage of our voting stock owned by them, and will therefore not be subject to such restrictions. These charter provisions may limit the ability of third parties to acquire control of our company.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require (unless we consent in writing to the selection if an alternative forum), to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. This provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
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.
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 jurisdiction, 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 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;

tax consequences;
 
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currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

rates of inflation;

challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

cultural and language differences;

employment regulations;

crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars;

deterioration of political relations with the United States;

obligatory military service by personnel; and

government appropriation of assets.
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 initial business combination or, if we complete such initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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 or directors of the 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.
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.
Terrorist attacks, communal disturbances, civil unrest and other acts of violence or war may result in a loss of investor confidence and a decline in the value of our shares and trading price of our shares following our business combination.
Terrorist attacks, civil unrest and other acts of violence or war may negatively affect the markets in which we may operate our business following our business combination and also adversely affect the worldwide financial markets. Events of this nature in the future, as well as social and civil unrest, could influence the economy in which our business target operates, and could have an adverse effect on our business, including the value of equity shares and the trading price of our shares following our business combination.
Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to consummation of our initial business combination, upon the listing of our shares on Nasdaq, Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
After completion of this offering and prior to consummation of our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. As a result, Nasdaq
 
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may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:

we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of Nasdaq;

we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and

to the extent we have one, we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities.
We do not intend to have a compensation committee after completion of this offering and prior to consummation of our initial business combination. Except for not having a compensation committee, we do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.
 
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some statements contained in this prospectus, and certain oral statements made from time to time by our representatives in connection with this offering, are forward-looking in nature. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:

our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;

our ability to complete our initial business combination;

our expectations around the performance of 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 officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;

actual and potential conflicts of interest relating to Alden Global, our directors and our officers;

our ability to draw from the support and expertise of Alden Global;

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

our pool of prospective target businesses, including the location and industry of such target businesses;

the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities;

our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

the lack of a market for our securities;

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

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

our financial performance following this offering.
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
 
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USE OF PROCEEDS
We are offering 20,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.
Without Over-
Allotment
Option
Over-Allotment
Option Fully
Exercised
Gross proceeds
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1)
$ 200,000,000 $ 230,000,000
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants
$ 5,500,000 $ 6,100,000
Total gross proceeds
$ 205,500,000 $ 236,100,000
Estimated offering expenses(2)
Underwriting commissions (2.0% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion)(3)
$ 4,000,000 $ 4,600,000
Legal fees and expenses
350,000 350,000
Printing and engraving expenses
40,000 40,000
Accounting fees and expenses
40,000 40,000
SEC expenses
25,093 25,093
FINRA expenses
35,000 35,000
Directors and officers insurance premiums
150,000 150,000
Nasdaq listing and filing fees
75,000 75,000
Miscellaneous expenses(4)
34,907 34,907
Total estimated offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions)
$ 750,000 $ 750,000
Proceeds after estimated offering expenses
$ 200,750,000 $ 230,750,000
Held in trust account(3)
$ 200,000,000 $ 230,000,000
% of public offering size
100% 100%
Not held in trust account
750,000 750,000
The following table shows the use of the approximately $750,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account:(5)
Amount
% of Total
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, consulting and other expenses in connection with any business combination(6)
$ 350,000 46.7%
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations
150,000 20.0%
Nasdaq continued listing fees
75,000 10.0%
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses
175,000 23.3%
Total
$ 750,000 100.0%
(1)
Includes amounts payable to public stockholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination.
(2)
Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $350,000 as described in this prospectus. As of November 24, 2020, we had not borrowed any amount under such promissory note. Any borrowed amount will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $1,500,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and amounts not to be held in the trust account. In the event that offering expenses are less than as set forth in this
 
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table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account.
(3)
The underwriter has agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $7,000,000, which constitutes the underwriter’s deferred commissions (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriter from the funds held in the trust account and the remaining funds, less amounts released to the trustee to pay redeeming stockholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriter will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.
(4)
Includes organizational and administrative expenses and may include amounts related to above-listed expenses in the event actual amounts exceed estimates.
(5)
These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring a business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify an acquisition target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. Based on current interest rates, we would expect the trust account to generate approximately $400,000 of interest annually; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. This estimate assumes an interest rate of 0.2% per annum based upon current yields of securities in which the trust account may be invested. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers and directors may, but none of them is obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1.5 million of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. These warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers and directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
(6)
Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing.
The Nasdaq rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $200,000,000 (or $230,000,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), including $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will, upon the consummation of this offering, be placed in a U.S.-based trust account with Continental acting as trustee. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act and that invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. Based on current interest rates, we estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $400,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.2% per year. We
 
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will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account, except with respect to permitted withdrawals. The funds held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (i) modify the substance and timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an 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 this offering or (ii) with respect to any other material provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A Common Stock or pre-initial business combination business activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. Based on current interest rates, we expect that interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient to pay taxes.
The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemption of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination.
We believe that amounts not held in trust will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, Alden Global, or our officers or directors, but such persons are not under any obligation or other duty to loan funds to, or invest in, us.
Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $350,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of November 24, 2020, we had not borrowed any amount under such promissory note. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of November 30, 2021 and the closing of this offering. Any borrowed amounts will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $1,500,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and amounts not to be held in the trust account.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers or directors may, but none of them is obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1.5 million of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. These warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers or directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
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 initial stockholders,
 
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directors, officers, advisors or their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or redeemable warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the Nasdaq rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or redeemable warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination. See “Proposed Business — Permitted Purchases of Our Securities” for a description of how our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of redeemable warrants could be to reduce the number of redeemable warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of common stock or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
We may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) and the agreement for our initial business combination may require as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.
A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination, and then only in connection with those public shares that such stockholder has properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an 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 this offering, or with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (1) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (2) waive their
 
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redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity. In addition, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers or directors acquires public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
 
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DIVIDEND POLICY
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of this offering, in which case we will effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in an amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders prior to this offering at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, at the distribution time, we will effect a distribution of a number of warrants equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount as follows: (i) to the extent that no public stockholders redeem their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, each public stockholder will receive one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant per public share and (ii) to the extent that any public stockholders redeem any of their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, then (A) one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant will be distributed per each remaining public share and (B) the redeemable warrants in an amount equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount less the number of warrants distributed pursuant to the foregoing clause (A) will be distributed on a pro rata basis to the holders of the remaining public shares based on their percentage of Class A common stock held after redemptions, as distributable redeemable warrants. Public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights are not entitled to receive any distribution of distributable redeemable warrants in respect of such redeemed public shares.
 
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DILUTION
The difference between the public offering price per share of Class A common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants or rights, including the private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public stockholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A common stock which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock.
At November 16, 2020, our net tangible book deficit was $(243,000), or approximately $(0.04) per share of Class B common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus, the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at November 16, 2020 would have been $5,000,010 or $0.82 per share, representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of the 18,875,399 shares of Class A common stock that may be redeemed for cash in connection with our initial business combination and assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option) of $0.86 per share to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution of $9.18 per share or 91.8% to our public stockholders not exercising their redemption rights. The dilution to new investors if the underwriter exercises its over-allotment option in full would be an immediate dilution of $9.28 per share or 92.8%.
The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on a per share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants:
Without Over-Allotment
With Over-Allotment
Public offering price
$ 10.00 $ 10.00
Net tangible book deficit before this offering
(0.04) (0.04)
Increase attributable to public stockholders
0.86 0.76
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants
0.82 0.72
Dilution to public stockholders
$ 9.18 $ 9.28
Percentage of dilution to public stockholders
91.8% 92.8%
For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option) by $188,753,990 because holders of up to approximately 94.4% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two business days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholder meeting, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals) divided by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering).
The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial stockholders and the public stockholders:
Shares Purchased
Total Consideration
Average Price
Per Share
Number
Percentage
Amount
Percentage
Initial Stockholders(1)(2)
5,000,000 20.00% $ 25,000 0.01% $ 0.005
Public Stockholders
20,000,000 80.00% $ 200,000,000 99.99% $ 10.000
25,000,000 100.0% $ 200,025,000 100.0%
(1)
Assumes the full forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised.
 
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(2)
Assumes conversion of Class B common stock into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis. The dilution to public stockholders would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B common stock result in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon such conversion.
The pro forma net tangible book value per share as of November 16, 2020 giving effect to the offering is calculated as follows:
Without Over-
Allotment
With Over-
Allotment
Numerator:
Net tangible book deficit before this offering
$ (243,000) $ (243,000)
Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement
warrants
200,750,000 230,750,000
Plus: Offering costs paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value before this offering
247,000 247,000
Less: Deferred underwriting commissions
(7,000,000) (8,050,000)
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption
(188,753,990) (217,703,990)
$ 5,000,010 $ 5,000,010
Denominator:
Class B common stock outstanding prior to this offering
5,750,000 5,750,000
Class B common stock forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised
(750,000)
Class A common stock included in the units offered
20,000,000 23,000,000
Less: Shares subject to redemption
(18,875,399) (21,770,399)
6,124,601 6,979,601
 
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CAPITALIZATION
The following table sets forth our capitalization at November 16, 2020 and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our 20,000,000 units in this offering for $200,000,000 (or $10.00 per unit) and the sale of 5,500,000 private placement warrants for $5,500,000 (or $1.00 per warrant) and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:
November 16, 2020
Actual
As adjusted(1)
Deferred underwriting commissions
$ $ 7,000,000
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption; -0- and 18,875,399 shares, actual and as adjusted, respectively(2)
188,753,990
Stockholders’ equity:
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and
outstanding, actual and as adjusted
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized; -0- and 1,124,601 shares issued and outstanding (excluding -0- and 18,875,399 shares subject to possible redemption), actual and as adjusted, respectively
112
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, 10,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 and 5,000,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively(3)
575 500
Additional paid-in capital(4)
24,425 5,020,398
Accumulated deficit
(21,000) (21,000)
Total stockholders’ equity
$ 4,000 $ 5,000,010
Total capitalization
$ 4,000 $ 200,754,000
(1)
Assumes the full forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised. The proceeds of the sale of such shares will not be deposited into the trust account, the shares will not be eligible for redemption from the trust account nor will they be eligible to vote upon the initial business combination.
(2)
Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals), subject to the limitations described herein whereby our net tangible assets will be maintained at a minimum of $5,000,001 and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination.
(3)
Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares by our sponsor and the “as adjusted” share amount assumes no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option and the forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares by our sponsor.
(4)
The “as adjusted” additional paid-in capital calculation is equal to the “as adjusted” total stockholders’ equity of $5,000,010, less Class A common stock (par value) of $112, less Class B common stock (par value) of $500 plus accumulated deficit of $21,000.
 
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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview
We are a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.
The issuance of additional shares of our stock in a business combination:

may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of Class A shares 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 preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

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

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

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A common stock and/or redeemable warrants.
Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant indebtedness, it could result in:

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

acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of 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.
As of November 16, 2020, we had cash of approximately $25,000 and working capital deficit of approximately $243,000. Further, we expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our
 
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acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.
Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares and up to $350,000 in loans from our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. We estimate that the net proceeds from: (1) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $750,000 and underwriting commissions of $4,000,000 ($4,600,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full)); and (2) the sale of the private placement warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $5,500,000 (or $6,100,000) if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $200,750,000 (or $230,750,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $200,000,000 (or $230,000,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), which includes $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will be deposited into the trust account. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act and that invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. The remaining $750,000 will not be held in the trust account. We currently expect our offering expenses to be $750,000 but in the event that our offering expenses exceed $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less taxes payable and deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. Delaware franchise tax is based on our authorized shares or on our assumed par and non-par capital, whichever yields a lower result. Under the authorized shares method, each share is taxed at a graduated rate based on the number of authorized shares with a maximum aggregate tax of $200,000 per year. Under the assumed par value capital method, Delaware taxes each $1,000,000 of assumed par value capital at the rate of $400; where assumed par value would be (1) our total gross assets following this offering, divided by (2) our total issued shares of common stock following this offering, multiplied by (3) the number of our authorized shares following this offering. Based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding and our estimated total gross proceeds after the completion of this offering, our annual franchise tax obligation is expected to be capped at the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation of $200,000. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the only taxes payable by us out of the funds in the trust account will be income and franchise taxes. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our taxes. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
 
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Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us $750,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, structure, negotiate and complete a business combination, and to pay taxes to the extent the interest earned on the trust account is not sufficient to pay our taxes.
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at November 16, 2020, we had approximately $25,000 in cash and a working capital deficiency of approximately $243,000. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this uncertainty through this offering are discussed below. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers or directors may, but none of them is obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. These warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers and directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $350,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with any business combinations; $150,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $75,000 for Nasdaq continued listing fees; and approximately $175,000 for working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses (including franchise taxes net of anticipated interest income).
These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision 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 entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. In addition, we may target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy redemptions by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial business combination
 
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to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of our initial business combination. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering, Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.”
Controls and Procedures
We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer an emerging growth company would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor has our independent registered public accounting firm tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:

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

reconciliation of accounts;

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

evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;

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

documentation of accounting policies and procedures.
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report if and when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money
 
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market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act and that invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations
As of November 16, 2020, 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.
Related Party Transactions
On November 16, 2020, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares of common stock upon the completion of this offering. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to us by the number of founder shares issued. An aggregate of up to 750,000 of such founder shares held by our sponsor are subject to forfeiture in the event the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised in full, as further described herein. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial stockholders at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Our sponsor does not intend to purchase any units in this offering.
We currently intend to pay Mr. Maz Akram and Mr. Martin Wade, two of our independent directors, a one-time cash bonus of $150,000 upon the successful completion of our initial business combination, provided that such individual remains a director through the closing of such initial business combination. In addition, our 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 our sponsor, officers, directors or our or any of their respective affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $350,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of November 24, 2020, we had not borrowed any amount under such promissory note. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of November 30, 2021 and the closing of this offering. Any borrowed amounts will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $1,500,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and amounts not to be held in the trust account.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers or directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1.5 million of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. These warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers and directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Our sponsor and the underwriter have subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 5,500,000 (or 6,100,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($5,500,000 in the aggregate or $6,100,000 in the aggregate if the underwriter’s over-allotment
 
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option is exercised in full) in the private placement. Among the private placement warrants, 4,000,000 warrants (or 4,375,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and 1,500,000 warrants (or 1,725,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by the underwriter. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Our sponsor and the underwriter will be permitted to transfer the private placement warrants held by them to certain permitted transferees, including our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to them, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as our sponsor and the underwriter. Otherwise, these warrants will not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Except as otherwise set forth herein, the private placement warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees (except as described below under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). The private placement warrants may also be exercised by our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering.
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with our initial stockholders on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. Our initial stockholders, holders of private placement warrants and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. Please see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”
JOBS Act
On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things: (1) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; (2) 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; (3) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the independent registered public accounting firm’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis); and (4) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the chief executive officer’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our initial public offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
 
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PROPOSED BUSINESS
General
We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any potential business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target.
Our sponsor is an affiliate of Alden Global, an investment advisory firm focused on deep value, distressed and catalyst-driven investing with a history of value creation in portfolio companies. Through our affiliation with our sponsor and Alden Global, we will seek to acquire a business that we believe would meaningfully benefit from our management team’s experience and at maximizing stockholder value by improving operations. We intend to focus on private companies which we believe offer an opportunity for stockholder value creation through the combination of  (i) an attractive valuation entry point, (ii) a clear plan to unlock incremental value through operational and/or strategic improvements, (iii) access to public and private financing sources and (iv) implementation of best-in-class public company governance. We will seek to partner with the owners of private companies to offer them an option to create partial liquidity, transition their legacy to a public company and/or resolve any fragmented ownership or succession planning issues, all while maintaining a singular focus on driving the target business to a higher level of performance and value. We may also look at earlier stage companies that exhibit the potential to change the industries in which they participate, and which offer the potential of sustained high levels of revenue growth.
While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we intend to focus on industries that align with the background of our sponsor and Alden Global. These industries include the media, technology, consumer products, industrials, real estate, real estate services, financial services, hospitality and entertainment sectors, which we refer to as our targeted sectors. We believe that there are many potential business combination targets within these industries that could become attractive public companies. Furthermore, we believe that we are well-positioned to drive ongoing value creation post-business combination, based on the operational and investment experience and track record of our team within our targeted sectors over time. We believe our team is well-suited to identify and execute on opportunities that have the potential to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders. We are not, however, required to complete our initial business combination within our targeted sectors, and, as a result, we may pursue a business combination outside of these industries.
Our Sponsor: Oyster Enterprises LLC, an affiliate of Alden Global
Our sponsor, Oyster Enterprises LLC, is a newly organized special purpose vehicle formed in Delaware. Our sponsor is managed by Oyster AG Manager LLC, a company owned by Randall D. Smith, the Chairman of our board of directors, and Heath B. Freeman, our Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of our board of directors. A majority of the equity interest in our sponsor is owned by Alden Global Opportunities Master Fund, L.P., an investment fund managed by Alden Global. Alden Global, of which Mr. Smith and Mr. Freeman are both founding members, is an investment advisory firm founded in 2008.
Alden Global is not an investment adviser to the company. See “Risk Factors — Past performance by Alden Global and our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.”
Our Management Team
Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp. will be led by Heath B. Freeman, our Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman, Joshua P. Kleban, our Chief Financial Officer and Michael J. Monticciolo, our Chief Legal Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Secretary and a member of our board of directors. Our senior management team will be supported by the Alden Global team, as well as our independent directors, as further described below.
 
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Heath B. Freeman is our Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Freeman is one of the founding members of Alden Global and has been its President since 2014. He has been managing and investing in companies with a deep value, distressed and catalyst-driven approach since he joined Alden Global’s predecessor Smith Management LLC in 2006. Prior to joining Smith Management, Mr. Freeman was an investment banker at Peter J. Solomon Company, where he specialized in mergers & acquisitions, restructurings and refinancings. In addition to his investment research and operational responsibilities at Alden Global, Mr. Freeman currently serves as Vice Chairman of MNG Enterprises, Inc., a company that owns media properties such as The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and the Boston Herald. Mr. Freeman currently serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Freeman Center at Jewish Life at Duke University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University in 2002.
Joshua P. Kleban is our Chief Financial Officer and has been the Chief Financial Officer of Alden Global since 2012. Prior to joining Alden Global, Mr. Kleban was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Attara Capital from 2009 to 2012. From 2006 to 2009, he was Director of Fund Accounting and Administration at Atticus Capital during which time its peak assets exceeded $20 Billion. From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Kleban was Vice President, Finance at Everest Capital. Previously, Mr. Kleban worked for KPMG in Bermuda and Ellis Foster in Canada. Mr. Kleban earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Queen’s University in Canada in 1993 and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada and a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Michael J. Monticciolo is our Chief Legal Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary and a member of our board of directors. Mr. Monticciolo has also served as the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer of Alden Global since joining in March 2014. He has held a variety of positions in the investment management industry as well as at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. From 2007 to 2014, Mr. Monticciolo was the Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Gruss Capital Management, a global event-driven investment manager. From 2006 to 2007, he was an associate general counsel at GSC Group, a credit-focused alternative investment adviser, and additionally was the chief compliance officer of a NYSE-listed business development company. Prior to that, Mr. Monticciolo served at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission as a senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement from 2000 to 2006 and as a staff attorney with the Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Monticciolo earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Ohio State University and a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law.
With respect to the above, past performance of Alden Global, our management team or any of their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated, (ii) the ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (iii) the ability to assess the risk of potential transactions. You should not rely on the historical record of management or Alden Global and its affiliates as indicative of future performance or operational success of our company. See “Risk Factors — Past performance by Alden Global and our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.” Our management and Alden Global have no experience in operating blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies.
Our Independent Directors
Our independent directors include the following individuals:
Randall D. Smith is the Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Smith is the Chief of Investments of Alden Global and is one of the founding members of the firm. Mr. Smith has been investing in companies with a deep value, distressed and catalyst-driven approach for more than 50 years. Prior to focusing on principal investing through Alden Global and Smith Management LLC, he established and ran R.D. Smith & Co., a company that became one of the largest enterprises in the world devoted exclusively to financially distressed companies. R.D. Smith & Co. was both a principal investor in distressed and a broker dealer for distressed securities. Mr. Smith exited that business in 1991 to focus exclusively on managing assets for himself and affiliated entities. Prior to creating R.D. Smith & Co., he was a partner at Bear Stearns where he headed the convertible arbitrage department and later focused on distressed investing. Beginning in 2020, Mr. Smith
 
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has served as a board member for Tribune Publishing Company. Mr. Smith graduated from Cornell University in 1965 and received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1967.
Maz Akram is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Akram’s background is in private equity investing, portfolio company management, turnarounds/special situations, financings and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Akram is an execution specialist with deep experience in structuring and negotiating complex transactions including cross-border transactions. He has extensive experience in sourcing proprietary deal flow in a variety of business sectors including financial institutions, retail, consumer products and manufacturing/industrial sectors. Mr. Akram currently serves on the board of directors of MNG Enterprises, Inc., a company that owns media properties such as The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and the Boston Herald. Currently at Zeus Capital, Mr. Akram focuses on alternative investments, market infrastructure inefficiencies and event-driven opportunities. He leads in sourcing and executing transactions in the United States, Europe, South America and the Middle East. He also plays a vital role in rolling out strategic goals and corporate development initiatives such as forging mission-critical partnerships, and steering entry into new markets. Previously, Mr. Akram worked at Sun Capital Partners, a $13 billion US private equity firm, and in mergers and acquisitions at Peter J. Solomon Company, a boutique New York investment bank. He was also a member of the investment banking division of Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Akram’s experience also includes projects with several non-for-profit organizations, including affiliates of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in developing countries. Mr. Akram received his A.B. degree, cum laude, in Chemistry from Princeton University with a Minor from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and his MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Martin R. Wade, III is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Wade is Partner in Residence with Catalyst Acquisition Group, an investment firm focusing on the acquisition and restructuring of distressed companies in the United States and internationally, since September 2007. Mr. Wade is the Chief Executive Officer of Broadcaster, Inc., a company engaged in the internet service provider and applications businesses, since 2006. In addition to operating roles, Mr. Wade has been a member of eighteen Boards of Directors and served as Chairman of eight and Chief Executive of three. Mr. Wade currently serves on the board of directors of MNG Enterprises, Inc., a company that owns media properties such as The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and the Boston Herald. Mr. Wade began his career in investment banking and mergers & acquisitions in 1975 at Bankers Trust Company. In 1980, Mr Wade joined Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb and became Head of Exclusive Sales and Divestitures within the M/A Department. In 1992 Mr. Wade joined Price Waterhouse LLP as National Head of Investment Banking with ten offices in the U.S. In 1997, Mr. Wade joined Salomon Brothers to form a Divestiture Sales Group in the Mergers and Acquisition Department. In his thirty-year investment banking career, Mr Wade initiated and advised on over two hundred transactions. Mr. Wade served as the interim Chief Executive Officer of Payless Shoesource, Inc., from August 2017 to January 2019. Payless Shoesource, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2019. Mr. Wade graduated from West Virginia University in 1971 with a B.S. in Business Administration and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the USAF. In 1975, Mr. Wade was honorably discharged from the USAF holding the rank of Captain. Mr. Wade also received an MBA degree from the University of Wyoming in 1975.
Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company that is underperforming its potential in an industry that is otherwise exhibiting stable or improving fundamentals and that can benefit from the strategic and transactional experience of our team to transform the company and maximize stockholder value. We plan to utilize the network and industry experience of our team, our sponsor and their respective affiliates in sourcing business combination opportunities and employing our acquisition strategy. We have chosen board members with investment banking and M&A experience across a wide range of industries, including media, technology, consumer products, industrials, real estate, real estate services, financial services, hospitality and entertainment, because we believe that examining acquisition opportunities across all of these sectors increases the likelihood of finding an acquisition target that will lead to stockholder value creation.
 
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Upon completion of this offering, members of our team and Alden Global will actively begin the search for a target business by communicating with their network of relationships and other interested parties. These communications will articulate our initial business combination criteria, including the parameters of our search for a target business, and will begin the process of pursuing and reviewing promising leads. We intend to perform rigorous due diligence, negotiate attractive transaction terms and develop a comprehensive operating plan with immediate, mid-term and long-term action items. Upon completion of our initial business combination, we intend to partner with management to implement changes and execute difficult decisions efficiently and effectively.
Competitive Strengths
Our management team has over 100 years of collective deal experience, with a history of working collaboratively in complementary capacities. Our team members have been actively involved with hundreds of companies, whether as owners, investors, investment bankers, directors and advisors and have developed an extensive network of relationships. Alden Global typically focuses on investment opportunities in need of transformation and looks to work with companies to effect such transformations through operational improvements, changes in strategic focus, improved execution, enhanced corporate governance and oversight, and/or by providing strategic capital. We believe this experience and Alden Global’s practices in partnering with companies to effect change are relevant capabilities for private companies seeking a public listing, and present a compelling value proposition for such potential target businesses.
In order to implement our business strategy, we will utilize our competitive strengths including:

Diverse deal experience across a wide range of industries;

Consistent sources of deal flow;

Disciplined and intellectually honest approach for value creation;

Extensive transactional experience and access to capital;

Successful development of a platform capable of driving organic growth and acquisition growth strategies in the industry; and

Partnering with management to improve operations and corporate governance.
We believe that our experience in identifying and sourcing transactions positions us well to appropriately evaluate potential business combinations and select one that will be well received by the public markets. Additionally, we believe that our team’s collaborative experience with companies that are undergoing strategic and/or operational transformations further increases the chances of successfully implementing our strategy and creating value for our stockholders.
Acquisition Criteria
We believe we have the opportunity to pursue a differentiated set of potential acquisition targets due to our team’s and Alden Global’s experience in driving transformative change in businesses in order to create value for stockholders. Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses and set us apart from other sources of capital pursuing target businesses in our areas of focus. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:

Are in fragmented industries capable of serving as a platform investment for future accretive acquisitions;

Possess a defensible market position (as compared to their competitors) with demonstrated advantages that create barriers to entry against new potential market entrants;

Are at inflection points, such as those requiring additional management expertise, preparing to innovate through development of new products or services, or facing situations where we are particularly equipped to drive improved financial performance;
 
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Are poised to benefit from significant embedded and/or underexploited expansion opportunities;

Exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics that we believe represent upside in the public markets based on our company-specific analysis and due diligence review;

Have strong operations and experienced and flexible management teams that provide a platform for driving growth, profitability, and value creation; and

Offer attractive risk-adjusted equity returns for our stockholders.
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
In addition to any potential business candidates we may identify on our own, we anticipate that other target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds, and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.
Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which will encompass, as applicable and among other things, commercial and industry due diligence, 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. To help facilitate this evaluation we will rely on input from our team and third-party due diligence providers. We also intend to leverage the operational and capital allocation planning experience of Alden Global and our team.
We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have neither individually identified nor considered a target business nor have they had any substantive discussions regarding possible target businesses among themselves or with our underwriter or other advisors. Alden Global is frequently made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with our company. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with our company. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.
We are not prohibited from pursuing our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors, or our officers or from making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, our directors, officers or their affiliates. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
In addition, our distributable redeemable warrants provide our public stockholders with an incentive not to redeem their shares of Class A common stock in connection with our initial business combination. Holders who choose to redeem their shares will lose the right to receive any distributable redeemable warrants.
 
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Assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option, public stockholders who choose not to redeem their shares of Class A common stock will share in the distribution of 6,666,666 warrants with other non-redeeming holders and will receive a portion of the additional warrants that were effectively surrendered by redeeming holders. As a result, public stockholders who do not redeem their shares will receive at least one-third of a distributable redeemable warrant per share they hold, and a greater amount if other holders elect to redeem. We believe this structure will likely lead to a lower level of redemptions.
Each of our officers and directors may, directly or indirectly, own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, 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 directors and officers was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. 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 duties or obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor these duties or obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that these duties or obligations will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or to complete our initial business combination.
None of our officers or directors has any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, unless presented to the officer or director specifically in his or her capacity as an officer or director of the company and after the officer or director has satisfied his or her contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties. Any knowledge or presentation of such opportunities may therefore present conflicts of interest.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Initial Business Combination
As required by Nasdaq rules, our initial business combination will be approved by a majority of our independent directors. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting discount and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. We refer to this as the “80% of fair market value test.” If our securities are no longer listed on Nasdaq, we will not be obligated to satisfy the 80% of fair market value test. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community (such as actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). Even though our board of directors will rely on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. In addition, the application of the standards generally involves a substantial degree of judgment. Accordingly, investors will be relying on the business judgment of the board of directors in evaluating the fair market value of the target or targets. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed initial business combination will provide public stockholders with our analysis of our satisfaction of the 80% of fair market value test, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business
 
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or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of a target business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if the board is less familiar or experienced with the target company’s business, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the company’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target business meets the 80% threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our stockholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to stockholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed initial business combination will include such opinion.
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 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 for the post-acquisition company 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 outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires an interest in the target or assets sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of fair market value test. If the 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 and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for the purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.
Corporate Information
Our offices are located at 300 Main Street, Stamford, Connecticut 06901, and our telephone number is (212) 888-5500. We plan to maintain a corporate website. The information that may be contained on or accessible through our corporate website or any other website that we may maintain is not part of this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying
 
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with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and 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.
Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets
If Alden Global decides to pursue any such opportunity or determines in its sole discretion not to offer such opportunity to us, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Alden Global, including by Mr. Smith, Mr. Freeman and other persons who may make decisions for the company, may be suitable both for us and for Alden Global, and will be directed initially to such persons rather than to us. Alden Global does not have any fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to our company, including, without limitation, to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware.
Our management team, in their other endeavors (including, with respect to our management, any affiliation they may have with Alden Global), may choose or be required to present potential business combinations or other transactions to other persons, before they present such opportunities to us. Please see “Risk Factors — Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity or other transaction should be presented.”
We are not prohibited from pursuing our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors, or our officers or from making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, our directors, officers or their affiliates. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
As discussed above and in “Management — Conflicts of Interest,” if any number of our management becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor these duties or obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity (including as described above).
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer target businesses an alternative to the traditional initial public offering
 
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through a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriter’s ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter; and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
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 exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and 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.
Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $193,000,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $221,950,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of up to $8,050,000 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), in each case before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its
 
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balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third-party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemption of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
Members of our management team and Alden Global are from time to time made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue, for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with us. Please see “— Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” for additional information regarding limitations on our access to investment opportunities sourced by Alden Global. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.
We may seek to raise additional funds in connection with the completion of our initial business combination through a private offering of equity securities or debt securities or loans, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offerings or loans rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. In the case of our initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately, or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.
In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by applicable law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.
Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
As required by Nasdaq rules, our initial business combination will be approved by a majority of our independent directors. Nasdaq rules also require that an 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 value of the trust
 
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account (excluding any deferred underwriting discount and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. 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. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of fair market value test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business.
Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

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

cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of
 
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the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following our initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.
Type of Transaction
Whether Stockholder
Approval is Required
Purchase of assets
No
Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company
No
Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company
No
Merger of the company with a target
Yes
Under Nasdaq’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:

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

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

the issuance or potential issuance will result in our undergoing a change of control.
The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which stockholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and legal reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:

the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine stockholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek stockholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company;

the expected cost of holding a stockholder vote;

the risk that the stockholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination;

other time and budget constraints of the company; and
 
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additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to stockholders.
Permitted Purchases of Our Securities
In the event 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 initial stockholders, directors, officers or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or redeemable warrants or a combination thereof in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares or warrants such persons may purchase. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. In the event our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates determine to make any such purchases at the time of a stockholder vote relating to our initial business combination, such purchases could have the effect of influencing the vote necessary to approve such transaction. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to (1) refrain from purchasing securities during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (2) to clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.
In the event that our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the 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. 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 common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share
 
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of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination. Such persons would select the stockholders from whom to acquire shares based on the number of shares available, the negotiated price per share and such other factors as any such person may deem relevant at the time of purchase. The price per share paid in any such transaction 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. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will purchase shares only if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or any of their respective affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of common stock if such purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.
Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. At completion of the business combination, we will be required to purchase any public shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriter. However, 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 creditors (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). The redemption right will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Distribution of Redeemable Warrants to Holders of Class A Common Stock Not Electing Redemption
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, at the distribution time, we will effect a distribution of a number of warrants equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount as follows: (i) to the extent that no public stockholders redeem their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, each public stockholder will receive one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant per public share and (ii) to the extent that any public stockholders redeem any of their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, then (A) one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant will be distributed per each remaining public share and (B) the redeemable warrants in an amount equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount less the number of warrants distributed pursuant to the foregoing clause (A) will be distributed on a pro rata basis to the holders of the remaining public shares based on their percentage of Class A common stock held after redemptions, as distributable redeemable warrants. Public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights are not entitled to receive any distribution of distributable redeemable warrants in respect of such redeemed public shares.
The distribution of the distributable redeemable warrants in respect of a public share is contingent upon such share not being redeemed in connection with our initial business combination, and the number of distributable redeemable warrants to be distributed in respect of each such unredeemed public shares will be contingent upon the aggregate number of public shares that are redeemed. The contingent rights to receive distributable redeemable warrants will remain attached to our Class A common stock, will not be separately transferrable, assignable or salable, and will not be evidenced by any certificate or instrument.
 
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Our distributable redeemable warrants are otherwise identical to our detachable redeemable warrants, including with respect to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. No fractional distributable redeemable warrants will be issued, no cash will be paid in lieu of fractional distributable redeemable warrants and only whole distributable redeemable warrants will trade. The distributable redeemable warrants will be fungible with our detachable redeemable warrants and will become tradable upon their distribution under the same stock symbol as the detachable redeemable warrants.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either: (1) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination; or (2) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would typically require stockholder approval. If we structure a business combination transaction with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed business combination. We currently intend to conduct redemptions pursuant to a stockholder vote unless stockholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons.
If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

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

file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and
 
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file proxy materials with the SEC.
We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any stockholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our Nasdaq listing or Exchange Act registration.
In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of a business combination.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed 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.
Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if We Seek Stockholder Approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable
 
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terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a stockholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights,
 
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such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until the end of 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only the time of 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 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 (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our redeemable warrants, and our detachable redeemable warrants will expire worthless and no distributable redeemable warrants will have been issued if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers and directors acquires public shares after this offering, it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an 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 this offering, 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 (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules).
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $750,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
 
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If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account and any tax payments or expenses for the dissolution of the trust, the per share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. Please 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 described above. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where 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. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a 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) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of permitted withdrawals, except as to any claims by a third party that executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether any such waiver is enforceable) and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. 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 and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those 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 officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses. None of our other officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below: (1) $10.00 per public share; or (2) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of
 
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permitted withdrawals, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in certain instances. For example, the cost of such legal action may be deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or the independent directors may determine that a favorable outcome is not likely.
Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.00 per share. Please 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 described above.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $750,000 from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. We currently expect our offering expenses to be $750,000, but in the event that our offering expenses exceed $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.
Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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 (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the
 
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right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24th month and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent ten years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account.
As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote.
Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below: (1) $10.00 per public share; or (2) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of permitted withdrawals and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act.
If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. Please see “Risk Factors — 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.”
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with our initial business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above.
 
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Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. If we seek to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an 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 this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A Common Stock or pre-initial business combination business activity, we will provide public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such vote. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to waive any redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either: (1) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which stockholders may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals); or (2) provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to tender their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals), in each case subject to the limitations described herein;

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

if our initial business combination is not consummated within 24 months from the closing of this offering, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account; and

prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote on any initial business combination, pre-initial business combination activity or amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, unless otherwise required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, we may consummate our initial business combination only if approved by a majority of the shares of common stock voted by our stockholders at a duly held stockholder meeting.
 
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Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with Our Initial Business Combination and if We Fail to Complete Our Initial Business Combination
The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Redemptions in connection with our
Initial Business Combination
Other Permitted
Purchases of Public
Shares by our Affiliates
Redemptions if We Fail
to Complete an Initial
Business Combination
Calculation of redemption price
Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination.
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 creditors (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).
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination.
Such purchases will only be made to the extent such purchases are made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions.
If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.
Impact to remaining stockholders
The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear If the permitted purchases described above are made, there will be The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our initial business
 
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Redemptions in connection with our
Initial Business Combination
Other Permitted
Purchases of Public
Shares by our Affiliates
Redemptions if We Fail
to Complete an Initial
Business Combination
the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and permitted withdrawals (to the extent not paid from amounts accrued as interest on the funds held in the trust account).
The remaining Class A stockholders will also receive a distribution of an aggregate of up to 6,666,666 distributable redeemable warrants (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option).
no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us. combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial stockholders, who will be our only remaining stockholders after such redemptions.
Comparison of This Offering to Those Of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419
The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriter will not exercise its over-allotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.
Terms of our Offering
Terms under a
Rule 419 Offering
Escrow of offering proceeds
$200,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a trust account located in the United States with Continental acting as trustee. Approximately $176,400,000 of the offering proceeds, representing the gross proceeds of this offering less allowable underwriting commissions, expenses and company deductions under Rule 419, would be required to be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker- dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account.
Investment of net proceeds
$200,000,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act and that invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.
 
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Terms of our Offering
Terms under a
Rule 419 Offering
Receipt of interest on escrowed funds
Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to stockholders is reduced by: (1) permitted withdrawals; and (2) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation. Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination.
Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business
The Nasdaq rules require that an 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 value of the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting discount and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.
Trading of securities issued
The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants constituting the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless UBS Securities LLC informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering. If the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option. No trading of the units or the underlying common stock and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.
 
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Terms of our Offering
Terms under a
Rule 419 Offering
We expect that the distributable redeemable warrants will become tradable on the day of the distribution thereof. The distributable redeemable warrants will be fully fungible with our detachable redeemable warrants and will trade under the same stock symbol.
Exercise of the redeemable warrants
The redeemable warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and 12 months from the closing of this offering. The redeemable warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account.
Election to remain an investor
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest, net of permitted withdrawals, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by applicable law or stock exchange rules to hold a stockholder vote. If we are not required by applicable law or stock exchange rules and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, we hold a A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued.
 
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Terms of our Offering
Terms under a
Rule 419 Offering
stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a stockholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting and, if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Business combination deadline
If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will: (1) cease all operations, except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.
 
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Terms of our Offering
Terms under a
Rule 419 Offering
but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
Release of funds
Except with respect to permitted withdrawals, the funds held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an 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 proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination and the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.
 
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Terms of our Offering
Terms under a
Rule 419 Offering
this offering, or with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law.
Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a stockholder vote
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect Excess Shares (more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering). Our public stockholders’ inability to redeem Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and they could suffer a material loss on their investment in us if they sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Most blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of stockholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such stockholders in connection with an initial business combination.
Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights
We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders or up to two business days prior to the In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, holders could vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holders were seeking to exercise their redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholders
 
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Terms of our Offering
Terms under a
Rule 419 Offering
initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. to arrange for them to deliver their certificate to verify ownership.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well-established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
 
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Certain Potential Conflicts of Interest
None of our officers or directors has any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware unless it is offered to the officer or director specifically in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and after the officer or director has satisfied his or her contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties. Any knowledge or presentation of such opportunities may therefore present conflicts of interest.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor these duties or obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any business opportunity offered to any of our officers or directors shall be presented to us only to the extent that such business opportunity is offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as our director or officer and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
The potential conflicts described above may limit our ability to enter into a business combination or other transactions. These circumstances could give rise to numerous situations where interests may conflict.
There can be no assurance that these or other conflicts of interest with the potential for adverse effects on the Company and investors will not arise.
Limitations on our Access to Investment Opportunities Sourced by Alden Global
Alden Global may compete with us for acquisition opportunities that we may target for our initial business combination. If Alden Global decides to pursue any such opportunity or determines in its sole discretion not to offer such opportunity to us, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Alden Global, including by Mr. Smith, Mr. Freeman and other persons who may make decisions for the company, may be suitable both for us and for Alden Global, and will be directed initially to such persons rather than to us. Alden Global does not have any fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to our company, including, without limitation, to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware.
Our management team, in their other endeavors (including, with respect to our management, any affiliation they may have with Alden Global), may choose or be required to present potential business combinations or other transactions to other persons, before they present such opportunities to us. Please see “Risk Factors — Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity or other transaction should be presented.”
Not All Members of Our Management Team are Independent of Alden Global
Certain members of our management team are employed by Alden Global. Members of our management team who are also employed by Alden Global do not have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware unless it is offered to them solely in their capacity as an officer or director of the company and after they have satisfied their contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties. Members of our management team who are employed by Alden Global may have a duty to present Alden Global with investment opportunities that may also be suitable for us. As a result, Alden Global may compete with us for acquisition opportunities in the same industries and sectors as we may target for our initial business combination. If any of them decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Alden Global, including by Mr. Smith, Mr. Freeman and other persons who may make
 
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decisions for the company, may be suitable both for us and for Alden Global, and will be directed initially to such persons rather than to us. Please see “Management — Conflicts of Interest” for additional information regarding conflicts of interest relating to our management team.
Sponsor Indemnity
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) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case, net of permitted withdrawals, except as to any claims by a third party that executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether any such waiver is enforceable) and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. 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 and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. We believe the likelihood of our sponsor having to indemnify the trust account is limited because we will endeavor to have all vendors and prospective target businesses as well as other entities execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 300 Main Street, Stamford, Connecticut 06901.We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have three officers and 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 to our company will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We will register our units, Class A common stock and redeemable warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accounting firm.
We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, GAAP or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the 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 24 months from the closing of this offering. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above.
 
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To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer an emerging growth company will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter; and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and 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.
Legal Proceedings
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such, and we and the members of our management team have not been subject to any such proceeding in the 12 months preceding the date of this prospectus.
 
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MANAGEMENT
Directors and Executive Officers
Our directors and executive officers are as follows:
Name
Age
Title
Heath B. Freeman 40
Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors
Joshua P. Kleban 49 Chief Financial Officer
Michael J. Monticciolo 49 Chief Legal Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Secretary and Director
Randall D. Smith 78 Chairman of the Board of Directors
Maz Akram 47 Director
Martin R. Wade, III 71 Director
Heath B. Freeman is our Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Freeman is one of the founding members of Alden Global and has been its President since 2014. He has been managing and investing in companies with a deep value, distressed and catalyst-driven approach since he joined Alden Global’s predecessor Smith Management LLC in 2006. Prior to joining Smith Management, Mr. Freeman was an investment banker at Peter J. Solomon Company, where he specialized in mergers & acquisitions, restructurings and refinancings. In addition to his investment research and operational responsibilities at Alden Global, Mr. Freeman currently serves as Vice Chairman of MNG Enterprises, Inc. , a company that owns media properties such as The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and the Boston Herald. Mr. Freeman currently serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Freeman Center at Jewish Life at Duke University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University in 2002.
Mr. Freeman is well-qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his expertise sourcing deals and investing in a variety of business sectors.
Joshua P. Kleban is our Chief Financial Officer and has been the Chief Financial Officer of Alden Global since 2012. Prior to joining Alden Global, Mr. Kleban was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Attara Capital from 2009 to 2012. From 2006 to 2009, he was Director of Fund Accounting and Administration at Atticus Capital during which time its peak assets exceeded $20 Billion. From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Kleban was Vice President, Finance at Everest Capital. Previously, Mr. Kleban worked for KPMG in Bermuda and Ellis Foster in Canada. Mr. Kleban earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Queen’s University in Canada in 1993 and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada and a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Michael J. Monticciolo is our Chief Legal Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary and a member of our board of directors. Mr. Monticciolo has also served as the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer of Alden Global since joining in March 2014. He has held a variety of positions in the investment management industry as well as at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. From 2007 to 2014, Mr. Monticciolo was the Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Gruss Capital Management, a global event-driven investment manager. From 2006 to 2007, he was an associate general counsel at GSC Group, a credit-focused alternative investment adviser, and additionally was the chief compliance officer of a NYSE-listed business development company. Prior to that, Mr. Monticciolo served at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission as a senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement from 2000 to 2006 and as a staff attorney with the Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Monticciolo earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Ohio State University and a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law.
Mr. Monticciolo is well-qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his vast legal expertise, including with respect to the investment management industry, and his capital markets experience.
Randall D. Smith is the Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Smith is the Chief of Investments of Alden Global and is one of the founding members of the firm. Mr. Smith has been investing in companies with a deep value, distressed and catalyst-driven approach for more than 50 years. Prior to focusing on principal
 
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investing through Alden Global and Smith Management LLC, he established and ran R.D. Smith & Co., a company that became one of the largest enterprises in the world devoted exclusively to financially distressed companies. R.D. Smith & Co. was both a principal investor in distressed and a broker dealer for distressed securities. Mr. Smith exited that business in 1991 to focus exclusively on managing assets for himself and affiliated entities. Prior to creating R.D. Smith & Co., he was a partner at Bear Stearns where he headed the convertible arbitrage department and later focused on distressed investing. Beginning in 2020, Mr. Smith has served as a board member for Tribune Publishing Company. Mr. Smith graduated from Cornell University in 1965 and received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1967.
Mr. Smith is well-qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his expertise sourcing deals and investing in a variety of business sectors.
Maz Akram is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Akram’s background is in private equity investing, portfolio company management, turnarounds/special situations, financings and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Akram is an execution specialist with deep experience in structuring and negotiating complex transactions including cross-border transactions. He has extensive experience in sourcing proprietary deal flow in a variety of business sectors including financial institutions, retail, consumer products and manufacturing/industrial sectors. Mr. Akram currently serves on the board of directors of MNG Enterprises, Inc., a company that owns media properties such as The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and the Boston Herald. Currently at Zeus Capital, Mr. Akram focuses on alternative investments, market infrastructure inefficiencies and event-driven opportunities. He leads in sourcing and executing transactions in the United States, Europe, South America and the Middle East. He also plays a vital role in rolling out strategic goals and corporate development initiatives such as forging mission-critical partnerships, and steering entry into new markets. Previously, Mr. Akram worked at Sun Capital Partners, a $13 billion US private equity firm, and in mergers and acquisitions at Peter J. Solomon Company, a boutique New York investment bank. He was also a member of the investment banking division of Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Akram’s experience also includes projects with several non-for-profit organizations, including affiliates of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in developing countries. Mr. Akram received his A.B. degree, cum laude, in Chemistry from Princeton University with a Minor from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and his MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Akram is well-qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his expertise in sourcing investments in a variety of business sectors and his experience as a board member of a media company.
Martin R. Wade, III is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Wade is Partner in Residence with Catalyst Acquisition Group, an investment firm focusing on the acquisition and restructuring of distressed companies in the United States and internationally, since September 2007. Mr. Wade is the Chief Executive Officer of Broadcaster, Inc., a company engaged in the internet service provider and applications businesses, since 2006. In addition to operating roles, Mr. Wade has been a member of eighteen Boards of Directors and served as Chairman of eight and Chief Executive of three. Mr. Wade currently serves on the board of directors of MNG Enterprises, Inc., a company that owns media properties such as The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and the Boston Herald. Mr. Wade began his career in investment banking and mergers & acquisitions in 1975 at Bankers Trust Company. In 1980, Mr Wade joined Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb and became Head of Exclusive Sales and Divestitures within the M/A Department. In 1992 Mr. Wade joined Price Waterhouse LLP as National Head of Investment Banking with ten offices in the U.S. In 1997, Mr. Wade joined Salomon Brothers to form a Divestiture Sales Group in the Mergers and Acquisition Department. In his thirty-year investment banking career, Mr Wade initiated and advised on over two hundred transactions. Mr. Wade served as the interim Chief Executive Officer of Payless Shoesource, Inc., from August 2017 to January 2019. Payless Shoesource, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2019. Mr. Wade graduated from West Virginia University in 1971 with a B.S. in Business Administration and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the USAF. In 1975, Mr. Wade was honorably discharged from the USAF holding the rank of Captain. Mr. Wade also received an MBA degree from the University of Wyoming in 1975.
Mr. Wade is well-qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his expertise in the acquisition and restructuring of distressed companies globally and his experience as a board member of various companies.
 
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Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we expect that our board of directors will consist of five members. Holders of our founder shares will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to consummation of our initial business combination and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended if approved by the holders of at least 90% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. Approval of our initial business combination will require the affirmative vote of a majority of our board directors. The term of office of our initial directors will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination. Any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, may be filled by vote of a majority of our directors then in office.
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 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.
Director Independence
We will be a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq rules prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. As a controlled company, we will not be required to comply with the Nasdaq rules that require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board has determined that each of Randall D. Smith, Maz Akram and Martin R. Wade, III is an independent director under applicable Nasdaq rules, and that each of Maz Akram and Martin R. Wade, III is also an independent director under applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Executive Officer and Director Compensation
None of our officers or directors have received any compensation for services rendered to us. We currently intend to pay each of Mr. Maz Akram and Mr. Martin Wade, two of our independent directors, a one-time cash bonus of $150,000 upon the successful completion of our initial business combination, provided that such individual remains a director through the closing of such initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor, officers, directors and 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, officers, directors 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 that 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 or by a majority of independent directors.
 
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We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors 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.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our board of directors will have one standing committee: an audit committee. Because we will be a “controlled company” under applicable Nasdaq rules, we are not required to have a compensation committee composed of independent directors, nor will we have a nominating and governance committee. Our audit committee will be composed solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules, the rules of Nasdaq and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. The audit committee will operate under a charter that will be approved by our board and will have the composition and responsibilities described below.
Audit Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. The members of our audit committee will be Maz Akram and Martin R. Wade, III with Martin R. Wade, III serving as chair of the audit committee.
Each member of the audit committee is able to read and understand fundamental financial statements, including a company’s balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. In addition, our board of directors has determined that Martin R. Wade, III qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail 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 independent registered public accounting firm has with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;

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 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”;
 
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reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and

reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.
Director Nominations
We do not have a standing nominating committee though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(2) of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by our board of directors. Our board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.
The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders). Our stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election to our board of directors should follow the procedures set forth in our bylaws.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, our 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.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
Prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our form of Code of Ethics and our audit committee charter as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.
You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K. Please see “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”
Conflicts of Interest
Our management team is responsible for the management of our affairs. As described above and below, each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations to present the opportunity
 
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to such entity, he or she will honor these duties or obligations to present such opportunity to such entity (including as described in “Proposed Business — Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets”). 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 do not believe, however, that the fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations of our officers or directors, or policies applicable to our officers or directors, will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Potential investors should be aware of the following potential conflicts of interest:

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

In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. Please see “— Directors and Executive Officers” for a description of our management’s other affiliations.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquire public shares in or after this offering, 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 24 months from the closing of this offering. 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) the date on which we consummate a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing 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, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the shares of 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, officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors 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 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 to proceed with a particular business combination.
 
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Our key personnel may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such key personnel 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 officers and directors have similar legal obligations and duties relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply with respect to any of our officers or directors in circumstances where the application of the doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have, 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 officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may present a conflict of interest:
Name of Individual
Entity Name
Entity’s Business
Affiliation
Heath B. Freeman
Alden Global
MNG Enterprises, Inc.
SLT Group LLC
Thuzio, Inc.
Investment
Media
Fitness
Media
President
Director
Director
Director
Joshua P. Kleban
Alden Global
Investment
Chief Financial Officer
Michael J. Monticciolo
Alden Global
Investment
Chief Legal Officer and Chief
Compliance Officer
Randall D. Smith
Alden Global
Tribune Publishing Company
Investment
Publishing
Chief of Investment
Director
Maz Akram
MNG Enterprises, Inc.
Zeus Capital
Media
Investment
Director
Director
Martin R. Wade, III
Catalyst Acquisition Group, LLC
Investment
Executive in Residence
MNG Enterprises, Inc.
Media
Director
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 duties or obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor these duties or obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity (including as described in “Proposed Business — Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets”). 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 are not prohibited from pursuing our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers or from making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, our directors, officers or their affiliates. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated
 
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with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
In addition, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, or any of their respective affiliates may invest in us after the date of this offering, although they have no obligation or current intention to do so. If any such person elects to invest in us, such proposed investments could influence their motivations 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, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination, and our officers and directors have also agreed to vote public shares purchased by them (if any) during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us or stockholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted by the DGCL.
We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also permit us to maintain insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We will obtain a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
In connection with this registration statement, we have undertaken that insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
 
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PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:

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

each of our executive officers and directors; and

all our executive officers and directors as a group.
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.
The post-offering ownership percentage column below assumes that the underwriter does not exercise its over-allotment option, that our sponsor forfeits an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares and that there are 25,000,000 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding after this offering.
Number of
shares
beneficially
owned(2)
Approximate percentage of
outstanding common stock
Name and address of beneficial owner(1)
Before offering
After offering(2)
Oyster Enterprises LLC(2)
5,750,000 100.0% 20.0%
Heath B. Freeman(3)
5,750,000 100.0% 20.0%
Joshua P. Kleban
Michael J. Monticciolo
Randall D. Smith(3)
5,750,000 100.0% 20.0%
Maz Akram
Martin R. Wade, III
All directors and executive officers as a group (6 individuals)
5,750,000 100.0% 20.0%
(1)
Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is 300 Main Street, Connecticut 06901.
(2)
Interests shown consist solely of shares of Class B common stock, which are referred to herein as founder shares. Such shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities.” Oyster AG Manager LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, is the manager of our sponsor and is managed by its members, Heath B. Freeman and Randall D. Smith, each of whom own a 50% equity interest in Oyster AG Manager LLC.
(3)
These shares consist solely of shares of Class B common stock held in the name of our sponsor. Our sponsor is controlled by Heath B. Freeman and Randall D. Smith.
Upon the completion of this offering, our initial stockholders will beneficially own 20.0% of the then issued and outstanding shares of our common stock. Our initial stockholders will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination as a result of holding all of the founder shares. In addition, because of this ownership block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions.
 
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Our sponsor and the underwriter have subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 5,500,000 warrants (or 6,100,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per warrant in the Private Placement. Among the private placement warrants, 4,000,000 warrants (or 4,375,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and 1,500,000 warrants (or 1,725,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by the underwriter. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Proceeds from the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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 subject to the transfer restrictions described below. The private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us in certain redemption scenarios and will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering.
Our sponsor and our officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoter” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws. Please see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for additional information regarding our relationships with our promoters.
Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants
The founder shares, private placement warrants and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in a letter agreement with us to be entered into by our initial stockholders or in a subscription agreement with us to be entered into by the underwriter, as the case may be. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (1) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing 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 our initial business combination, or (y) the date following the completion of our initial business combination 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 Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property, and (2) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A common stock underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor, including to funds affiliated with Alden Global, and to limited partners of funds affiliated with Alden Global, provided that any such transfers to limited partners are made on a pro rata basis pursuant to the organizational documents of such funds and internal allocation policy; (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual’s immediate family or an affiliate of such person, or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) transfers by private sales or transfers made in connection with consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (f) in the event of our liquidation prior to our completion of our initial business combination; (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement, as amended, upon dissolution of our sponsor; or (h) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; (i) in the case of the underwriter, to the underwriter’s affiliates or any entity controlled by the underwriter or (j) to a nominee or custodian of a person
 
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or entity to whom a disposition or transfer would be permissible under clauses (a) through (i) above, provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (e) and (i) and (j) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreement.
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to shares of Class A common stock). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act.
 
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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
On November 16, 2020, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares of common stock upon completion of this offering. An aggregate of up to 750,000 of such founder shares held by our sponsor are subject to forfeiture in the event the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised in full, as further described herein. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial stockholders prior to this offering at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.
Our sponsor and the underwriter have subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 5,500,000 (or 6,100,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1.00 per warrant in the private placement. Among the private placement warrants, 4,000,000 warrants (or 4,375,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and 1,500,000 warrants (or 1,725,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by the underwriter. As such, our sponsor’s interest in this transaction is valued at between $4,000,000 and $4,375,000, depending on the number of private placement warrants purchased. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.
As described in “Proposed Business — Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” and “Management — Conflicts of Interest,” 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 duties or obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor these duties or obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors currently have other relevant fiduciary or contractual duties or obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
We currently intend to pay each of Mr. Maz Akram and Mr. Martin Wade, two of our independent directors, a one-time cash bonus of $150,000 upon the successful completion of our initial business combination, provided that such individual remains a director through the closing of such initial business combination. In addition, our 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 our sponsor, officers, directors or our or any of their respective affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $350,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of November 24, 2020, we had not borrowed any amount under such promissory note. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of November 30, 2021 and the closing of this offering. Any borrowed amounts will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $1,500,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and amounts not to be held in the trust account. The value of our sponsor’s interest in this loan transaction corresponds to the principal amount outstanding under any such loan.
 
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In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, Alden Global, or our officers and directors may, but none of them is obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. These terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers and directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us, if any, may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive officer and director compensation.
We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans (if any), which is described under the heading “Principal Stockholders — Registration Rights.”
Related Party Policy
We have not yet adopted a formal policy for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions. Accordingly, the transactions discussed above were not reviewed, approved or ratified in accordance with any such policy.
Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt a Code of Ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our Code of Ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company.
In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter that we will adopt prior to the consummation of this offering, will be responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or any of their affiliates.
These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with our initial stockholders, directors or officers unless we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors or our or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, the following payments may be made to our sponsor, officers or directors,
 
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or our or their affiliates, and, if made prior to our initial business combination will be made from (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals:

repayment of an aggregate of up to $350,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;

payment of a one-time cash bonus of $150,000 to each of Mr. Maz Akram and Mr. Martin Wade, two of our independent directors, upon the successful completion of our initial business combination;

reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and

repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender.
These payments may be funded using the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account or, upon completion of the initial business combination, from any amounts remaining from the proceeds of the trust account released to us in connection therewith.
 
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DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock will consist of 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 10,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value. The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.
Units
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-sixth of one redeemable warrant, which we refer to as the “detachable redeemable warrant,” and the contingent right to receive at least one-third of one redeemable warrant following the initial business combination redemption time under certain circumstances and subject to adjustment as further described in this prospectus (the “distributable redeemable warrant and, together with the “detachable redeemable warrant, a “redeemable warrant”). Each whole redeemable warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of the company’s Class A common stock. This means only a whole redeemable warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade.
The common stock and detachable redeemable warrants constituting the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless the underwriter informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least six units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole detachable redeemable warrant.
The contingent right to receive distributable redeemable warrants will remain attached to the shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering, will not be separately transferrable, assignable or salable, and will not be evidenced by any form of certificate or instrument. Once our distributable redeemable warrants are issued, such warrants will be fungible with our detachable redeemable warrants. The distributable redeemable warrants are expected to be eligible for trading on the day that they are distributed, and will be fully fungible with and trade under the same stock symbol as our detachable redeemable warrants.
In no event will the Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet of our company reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K which will include this audited balance sheet, promptly after the closing of this offering. If the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option.
Common Stock
Upon the closing of this offering, 25,000,000 shares of our common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares by our sponsor), including:

20,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock underlying the units being offered in this offering; and

5,000,000 shares of Class B common stock held by our initial stockholders.
 
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If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial stockholders prior to this offering at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.
Common stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Only holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of our Class B common stock may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended if approved by the holders of at least 90% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. On any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, holders of our Class B common stock and holders of our Class A common stock will vote together as a single class, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rule. 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 our shares of common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders (other than the election of directors). There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors. Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of shares of common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriter. The redemption right will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Permitted transferees of our initial stockholders, officers or directors will be subject to the same obligations. Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, if a stockholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer
 
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rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, unless a different vote is required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. Unless otherwise required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, a quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our stockholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such stockholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the business combination. And, as a result, such stockholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have (and their permitted transferees, as applicable, will agree) agreed to vote any 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 only 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 1,250,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 20,000,000 shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction in order to have our initial business combination approved. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will: (1) cease all operations, except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any),
 
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subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders or any of our officers or directors acquires public shares after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals), upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.
Founder Shares
The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: (1) only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to our initial business combination; (2) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; (3) our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to: (a) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (b) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or with (B) respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (c) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (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 24 months from the closing of this offering); (4) the founder shares are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein; and (5) the holders of founder shares are entitled to registration rights. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed (and their permitted transferees, as applicable, will agree) to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.
The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts sold in this offering and related to the closing of our initial business combination), the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such 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, 20% of the total number of all
 
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shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination (net of the number of shares of Class A common stock redeemed in connection with our initial business combination), any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in our initial business combination and any warrants issued upon the conversion of working capital loans made to us. We cannot determine at this time whether a majority of the holders of our Class B common stock at the time of any future issuance would agree to waive such adjustment to the conversion ratio. They may waive such adjustment due to (but not limited to) the following: (i) closing conditions which are part of the agreement for our initial business combination; (ii) negotiation with Class A stockholders on structuring our initial business combination; or (iii) negotiation with parties providing financing which would trigger the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B common stock. If such adjustment is not waived, the future issuance would not reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class B common stock but would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class A common stock. If such adjustment is waived, the future issuance would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of both classes of our common stock. Holders of founder shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time. The term “equity-linked securities” refers to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Class A common stock issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt. Securities could be “deemed issued” for purposes of the conversion rate adjustment if such shares are issuable upon the conversion or exercise of convertible securities, warrants or similar securities.
With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor and other permitted transferees, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, if the closing 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, and (C) following the completion of our initial business combination, such future 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.
Preferred Stock
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock and will provide that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering.
Contingent Right
We refer to the right attached to each share of Class A common stock sold in this offering to receive a dividend of distributable redeemable warrants as a contingent right. Whether any distributable redeemable warrants are distributed in respect of a share of Class A common stock is contingent upon such share of Class A common stock not being redeemed in connection with our initial business combination, and the number of distributable redeemable warrants to be distributed in respect of each unredeemed share of Class A common stock upon such distribution is contingent upon the aggregate number of shares of Class A
 
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common stock that are redeemed. The contingent right to receive distributable redeemable warrants will remain attached to our Class A common stock, will not be separately transferable, assignable or salable, and will not be evidenced by any form of certificate or instrument.
Redeemable Warrants
Our warrants include our detachable redeemable warrants and our distributable redeemable warrants. Each unit issued in this offering will include one-sixth of one detachable redeemable warrant and the contingent right to receive at least one-third of one redeemable warrant following the initial business combination redemption time under certain circumstances and subject to adjustment as further described in this prospectus.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, at the distribution time, we will effect a distribution of a number of warrants equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount as follows: (i) to the extent that no public stockholders redeem their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, each public stockholder will receive one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant per public share and (ii) to the extent that any public stockholders redeem any of their public shares in connection with the initial business combination, then (A) one-third of one distributable redeemable warrant will be distributed per each remaining public share, as distributable redeemable warrants and (B) the redeemable warrants in an amount equal to the Aggregate Warrant Amount less the number of warrants distributed pursuant to the foregoing clause (A) will be distributed on a pro rata basis to the holders of the remaining public shares based on their percentage of Class A common stock held after redemptions. Public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights are not entitled to receive any distribution of distributable redeemable warrants in respect of such redeemed public shares. The distribution time will be immediately after the initial business combination redemption time and immediately prior to the closing of our initial business combination.
Each whole redeemable warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of 12 months from the closing of this offering and 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its redeemable warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least six units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole detachable redeemable warrant. The number of shares of Class A common stock that a public stockholder must hold to receive a whole distributable redeemable warrant at the distribution time will depend on the number of shares of Class A common stock issued in this offering that remain outstanding after any redemptions of such shares in connection with our initial business combination. The redeemable warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a redeemable warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common issuable upon exercise of the redeemable warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No redeemable 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. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a redeemable warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised redeemable warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such unit.
We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our reasonable best efforts to file with the SEC, and within
 
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60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the redeemable warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the redeemable warrants expire or are redeemed. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a redeemable warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of redeemable 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 will use our reasonable best efforts to qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may call the redeemable warrants for redemption:

in whole and not in part;

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, or the 30-day redemption period, to each warrant holder; and

if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three trading days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (which we refer to as the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “— Anti-dilution adjustments”).

if, and only if, the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.
If and when the redeemable 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.
We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the redeemable warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its redeemable warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share.   Commencing 90 days after the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (including both redeemable warrants and private placement warrants):

in whole and not in part;

at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption and receive that number of shares of Class A common stock determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (as defined below) except as otherwise described below;

if, and only if, the Reference Value (as defined above under the heading “— Redeemable Warrants — Redeemable of warrants for cash when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00”) equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “— Anti-dilution adjustments”); and
 
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if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “— Anti- dilution adjustments”), the private placement warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding redeemable warrants, as described above.
Beginning on the date the notice of redemption is given until the warrants are redeemed or exercised, holders may elect to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The numbers in the table below represent the number of shares of Class A common stock that a warrant holder will receive upon such cashless exercise in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, based on the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock on the corresponding redemption date (assuming holders elect to exercise their warrants and such warrants are not redeemed for $0.10 per warrant), determined for these purposes based on the volume weighted average price of our Class A common stock as reported during the ten trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, and the number of months that the corresponding redemption date precedes the expiration date of the warrants, each as set forth in the table below. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the ten-trading day period described above ends.
The share prices set forth in the column headings of the table below will be adjusted as of any date on which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant or the exercise price of a warrant is adjusted as set forth under the heading “— Anti-dilution Adjustments” below. If the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant is adjusted, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the share prices immediately prior to such adjustment, multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the exercise price of the warrant after such adjustment and the denominator of which is the price of the warrant immediately prior to such adjustment. In such an event, the number of shares in the table below shall be adjusted by multiplying such share amounts by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant immediately prior to such adjustment and the denominator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant as so adjusted. If the exercise price of a warrant is adjusted, (a) in the case of an adjustment pursuant to the fifth paragraph under the heading “— Anti-dilution Adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the unadjusted share price multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price as set forth under the heading “— Anti-dilution Adjustments” and the denominator of which is $10.00 and (b) in the case of an adjustment pursuant to the second paragraph under the heading “— Anti-dilution Adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the unadjusted share price less the decrease in the exercise price of a warrant pursuant to such exercise price adjustment.
Fair market value of Class A common stock
Redemption date
(period to expiration of warrants)
$10.00
$11.00
$12.00
$13.00
$14.00
$15.00
$16.00
$17.00
$18.00
57 months
0.257 0.277 0.294 0.310 0.324 0.337 0.348 0.358 0.365
54 months
0.252 0.272 0.291 0.307 0.322 0.335 0.347 0.357 0.365
51 months
0.246 0.268 0.287 0.304 0.320 0.333 0.346 0.357 0.365
48 months
0.241 0.263 0.283 0.301 0.317 0.332 0.344 0.356 0.365
45 months
0.235 0.258 0.279 0.298 0.315 0.330 0.343 0.356 0.365
42 months
0.228 0.252 0.274 0.294 0.312 0.328 0.342 0.355 0.364
39 months
0.221 0.246 0.269 0.290 0.309 0.325 0.340 0.354 0.364
36 months
0.213 0.239 0.263 0.285 0.305 0.323 0.339 0.353 0.364
33 months
0.205 0.232 0.257 0.280 0.301 0.320 0.337 0.352 0.364
30 months
0.196 0.224 0.250 0.274 0.297 0.316 0.335 0.351 0.364
27 months
0.185 0.214 0.242 0.268 0.291 0.313 0.332 0.350 0.364
24 months
0.173 0.204 0.233 0.260 0.285 0.308 0.329 0.348 0.364
21 months
0.161 0.193 0.223 0.252 0.279 0.304 0.326 0.347 0.364
18 months
0.146 0.179 0.211 0.242 0.271 0.298 0.322 0.345 0.363
 
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Fair market value of Class A common stock
Redemption date
(period to expiration of warrants)
$10.00
$11.00
$12.00
$13.00
$14.00
$15.00
$16.00
$17.00
$18.00
15 months
0.130 0.164 0.197 0.230 0.262 0.291 0.317 0.342 0.363
12 months
0.111 0.146 0.181 0.216 0.250 0.282 0.312 0.339 0.363
9 months
0.090 0.125 0.162 0.199 0.237 0.272 0.305 0.336 0.362
6 months
0.065 0.099 0.137 0.178 0.219 0.259 0.296 0.331 0.362
3 months
0.034 0.065 0.104 0.150 0.197 0.243 0.286 0.326 0.361
0 months
0.042 0.115 0.179 0.233 0.281 0.323 0.361
The exact fair market value and redemption date may not be set forth in the table above, in which case, if the fair market value is between two values in the table or the redemption date is between two redemption dates in the table, the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued for each warrant redeemed will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower fair market values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365-day year. For example, if the average reported last sale price of our Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading date prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $11.00 per share, and at such time there are 57 months until the expiration of the warrants, we may choose to, pursuant to this redemption feature, redeem the warrants at a “redemption price” of 0.277 shares of Class A common stock for each whole warrant. For an example where the exact fair market value and redemption date are not as set forth in the table above, if the average reported last sale price of our Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading date prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $13.50 per share, and at such time there are 38 months until the expiration of the warrants, we may choose to, pursuant to this redemption feature, redeem the warrants at a “redemption price” of 0.298 shares of Class A common stock for each whole warrant. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.365 of a share of Class A common stock per whole warrant. Finally, as reflected in the table above, we can redeem the warrants for no consideration in the event that the warrants are “out of the money” (i.e. the trading price of our Class A common stock is below the exercise price of the warrants) and about to expire.
This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in other blank check offerings, which typically only provide for a redemption of warrants for cash (other than the private placement warrants) when the trading price for the Class A common stock exceeds $18.00 per share for a specified period of time. This redemption feature is structured to allow for all of the outstanding warrants to be redeemed when the Class A common stock is trading at or above $10.00 per share, which may be at a time when the trading price of our Class A common stock is below the exercise price of the warrants. We have established this redemption feature to provide us with the flexibility to redeem the warrants without the warrants having to reach the $18.00 per share threshold set forth above under “— Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share.” Holders choosing to exercise their warrants in connection with a redemption pursuant to this feature will, in effect, receive a number of shares representing fair value for their warrants, based on a Black-Scholes option pricing model with a fixed volatility input as of the date of this prospectus. This redemption right provides us with an additional mechanism by which to redeem all of the outstanding warrants, and therefore have certainty as to our capital structure as the warrants would no longer be outstanding and would have been exercised or redeemed and we will be required to pay the redemption price to warrant holders if we choose to exercise this redemption right and it will allow us to quickly proceed with a redemption of the warrants if we determine it is in our best interest to do so. As such, we would redeem the warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the warrants and pay the redemption price to the warrant holders.
As stated above, we can redeem the warrants when the Class A common stock is trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing warrant holders with the opportunity to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis for the applicable number of shares. If we choose to redeem the warrants when the Class A common stock is trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result
 
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in the warrant holders receiving fewer shares of Class A common stock than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for shares of Class A common stock if and when such shares of Class A common stock were trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50. No fractional shares of Class A common stock will be issued upon redemption. If, upon redemption, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the holder. Any redemption of the warrants for shares of Class A common stock will apply to both the redeemable warrants and the private placement warrants.
Redemption procedures and cashless exercise.   If we call the redeemable warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise redeemable warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their redeemable warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of redeemable warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our redeemable warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the redeemable warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the redeemable warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock over the exercise price of the redeemable warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.365 per whole warrant. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of redeemable warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Class A common stock to be received upon exercise of the redeemable warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a redeemable warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the redeemable warrants after our initial business combination. If we call our redeemable warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, our sponsor and its permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their private placement warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other redeemable warrant holders would have been required to use had all redeemable warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, as described in more detail below.
A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such redeemable warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Class A common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-dilution adjustments.   If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by a split-up of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Class A common stock. A rights offering (other than with respect to the right of public stockholders to acquire the distributable redeemable warrants) to holders of Class A common stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Class A common stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (1) the number of shares of Class A common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock) multiplied by (2) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (1) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (2) fair market value means the volume weighted average price of Class A common stock as reported during the ten trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of
 
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Class A common stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to all or substantially all holders of Class A common stock on account of such shares of Class A common stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends (initially defined as up to $0.50 per share in a 365 day period), (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our Class A common stock if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity, (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination or (f) the issuance and distribution of the distributable redeemable warrants, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Class A common stock.
Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share, (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described below in “— Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00” and “— Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger described below in “Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the shares of our Class A common stock immediately theretofore
 
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purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such consolidation or merger, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such consolidation or merger that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer has been made to and accepted by such holders (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the company in connection with redemption rights held by stockholders of the company as provided for in the company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation or as a result of the redemption of shares of Class A common stock by the company if a proposed initial business combination is presented to the stockholders of the company for approval) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock, the holder of a warrant will be entitled to receive the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a stockholder if such warrant holder had exercised the warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the Class A common stock held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustments (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the warrant agreement. Additionally, if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the per share consideration minus Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants in order to determine and realize the option value component of the warrant. This formula is to compensate the warrant holder for the loss of the option value portion of the warrant due to the requirement that the warrant holder exercise the warrant within 30 days of the event. The Black-Scholes model is an accepted pricing model for estimating fair market value where no quoted market price for an instrument is available.
The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity, mistake (including to conform the warrant agreement to the description thereof herein) or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding redeemable warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of redeemable warrants. The terms of the private placement warrants may not be amended without the consent of holders of at least 50% of the private placement warrants.
The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Class A common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of Class A common stock. After the
 
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issuance of shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.
We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. See “Risk Factors — Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.” This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.
Private Placement Warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor) and they will not be redeemable under certain redemption scenarios by us so long as they are held by our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees. Our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees have the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis and will be entitled to certain registration rights. With respect to the private placement warrants held by the underwriter, they will not be exercisable more than five years from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(i). Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor, the underwriter or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable in all redemption scenarios by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.
If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor, the underwriter and their permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following our initial business combination. If they are affiliated with us following our initial business combination, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could exercise their warrants and sell the shares of Class A common stock received upon such exercise freely in the open market in order to recoup the cost of such exercise, the insiders could be significantly restricted from selling such securities. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, Alden Global or our officers or directors may, but none of them is obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned
 
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amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. These warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of this offering, in which case we will effect a stock dividend with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial stockholders prior to this offering at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.
Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions (other than amendments relating to the appointment of directors, which require the approval of the holders of at least 90% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon) cannot be amended without the approval of the holders of at least 65% of our common stock. Our initial stockholders, who collectively will beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering, may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Prior to an initial business combination, we may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;

prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to: (1) receive funds from the trust account; or (2) vote on any initial business combination, pre-initial business combination activity or amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation;
 
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although we do not intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated our sponsor, our officers or our directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view;

if a stockholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by applicable law or stock exchange rules and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act;

if required by applicable stock-exchange rules, 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 value of the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting discount and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account);

if our stockholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an 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 this offering, or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of common stock upon such approval at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; and

we will not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
We have elected to be exempt from the restrictions imposed under Section 203 of the DGCL. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain similar provisions providing that we may not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that such stockholder becomes an interested stockholder unless:

prior to such time, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

upon consummation of the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an “interested stockholder,” the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced (excluding certain shares); or

at or subsequent to such time, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder.
 
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Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with that person’s affiliates and associates, owns, or within the previous three years owned, 15% or more of our voting stock.
Under some circumstances, this provision will make it more difficult for a person who is an interested stockholder to effect various business combinations with us for a three-year period.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our sponsor and its various affiliates, successors and transferees will not be deemed to be “interested stockholders” regardless of the percentage of our voting stock owned by them, and accordingly will not be subject to this provision.
Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Exclusive Forum for Certain Lawsuits
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require (unless we consent in writing to the selection if an alternative forum), to the fullest extent permitted by law, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction, or (D) arising under the Securities Act, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall have concurrent jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As noted above, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall have concurrent jurisdiction over any action arising under the Securities Act. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Special Meeting of Stockholders
Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our Chief Executive Officer or by our Chair.
 
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Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations
Our bylaws provide for advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of our board of directors or a committee of our board of directors. In order for any matter to be “properly brought” before a meeting, a stockholder will have to comply with advance notice requirements and provide us with certain information. Generally, to be timely, a stockholder’s notice must be received at our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 60th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 90th day prior to the first anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the notice periods contained therein. Our bylaws also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. Our bylaws allow the chair of the meeting at a meeting of the stockholders to adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of meetings which may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the rules and regulations are not followed. These provisions may also defer, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of us.
Action by Written Consent
Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, any action required or permitted to be taken by our stockholders must be effected by a duly called annual or special meeting of such stockholders and may not be effected by written consent of the stockholders other than with respect to our Class B common stock with respect to which action may be taken by written consent.
Only Holders of the Founder Shares vote to Elect Directors
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
Class B Common Stock Consent Right
For so long as any shares of Class B common stock remain outstanding, we may not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision of our certificate of incorporation, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other or special rights of the Class B common stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class B common stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class B common stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class B common stock were present and voted.
Securities Eligible for Future Sale
Immediately after this offering we will have 20,000,000 (or 23,000,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of Class A common stock outstanding. All of these shares will have been sold in this offering and will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the 5,000,000 (or 5,750,000 if the underwriter’s’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) Class B founder shares and all 5,500,000 (or 6,100,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this prospectus.
 
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Rule 144
Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that: (1) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three and six months preceding, a sale; and (2) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three and six months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three and six months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:

1% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock then outstanding, which will equal 200,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 230,000 if the underwriter exercises its over-allotment option in full); or

the average weekly reported trading volume of the common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.
Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.
Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies
Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than a business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:

the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company;

the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;

the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Current Reports on Form 8-K; and

at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company.
As a result, our initial stockholders will be able to sell their founder shares and our sponsor or the underwriter, as applicable, will be able to sell its private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion into shares of Class A common stock). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statement.
 
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Listing of Securities
We intend to list our units, Class A common stock and redeemable warrants on Nasdaq under the symbols “OSTRU,” “OSTR” and “OSTRW,” respectively. We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement. Following the date the shares of our Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our common stock and detachable redeemable warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on Nasdaq.
 
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UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
The following discussion is a summary of the U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the ownership and disposition of our units, Class A common stock and redeemable warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. This summary is based upon U.S. federal income tax law as of the date of this prospectus, which is subject to change or differing interpretations, possibly with retroactive effect. This summary does not discuss all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be important to particular investors in light of their individual circumstances and the different tax consequences that may apply to investors subject to special tax rules, including:

financial institutions;

insurance companies;

broker-dealers;

tax-exempt organizations (including private foundations) or governmental organizations;

taxpayers that have elected mark-to-market accounting;

expatriates or former long-term residents of the United States;

S corporations, partnerships, or other entities or arrangements treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes (and investors therein);

regulated investment companies;

real estate investment trusts;

accrual-method taxpayers who are required under Section 451(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), to recognize income for U.S. federal income tax purposes no later than when such income is taken into account in applicable financial statements;

investors deemed to sell our units, Class A common stock, or warrants under the constructive sale provisions of the Code;

persons who hold or receive our units, Class A common stock, or warrants pursuant to the exercise of any employee stock option or otherwise as compensation;

investors that will hold Class A common stock or redeemable warrants as part of a straddle, hedge, conversion, or other integrated transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes; and

investors that have a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar.
In addition, this summary does not discuss other U.S. federal tax consequences (e.g., estate or gift tax), any state, local, or non-U.S. tax considerations, or the additional tax on net investment income or alternative minimum tax. In addition, this summary is limited to investors that will hold our securities as “capital assets” (generally, property held for investment) under the Code, and that acquired the securities pursuant to this offering (or, in the case of Class A common stock, upon exercise of redeemable warrants so acquired). No ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, (the “IRS”) has been or will be sought regarding any matter discussed herein. No assurance can be given that the IRS would not assert, or that a court would not sustain a position contrary to any of the tax aspects set forth below.
For purposes of this summary, a “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial holder of securities who or that is:

an individual who is a U.S. citizen or resident of the United States as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes;

a corporation or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes created in, or organized under the law of, the United States or any state or political subdivision thereof;

an estate the income of which is includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or

a trust (A) the administration of which is subject to the primary supervision of a U.S. court and which has one or more U.S. persons (within the meaning of the Code) who have the authority to
 
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control all substantial decisions of the trust or (B) that has in effect a valid election under applicable Treasury regulations to be treated as a U.S. person.
A “non-U.S. Holder” is a beneficial holder of shares who or that is neither a U.S. Holder nor a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
If a partnership (including an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds our securities, the tax treatment of a partner, member or other beneficial owner in such partnership will generally depend upon the status of the partner, member or other beneficial owner, the activities of the partnership and certain determinations made at the partner, member or other beneficial owner level. If you are a partner, member or other beneficial owner of a partnership holding our securities, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of our securities.
THIS DISCUSSION OF U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TAX ADVICE. PROSPECTIVE HOLDERS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS CONCERNING THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF OWNING AND DISPOSING OF OUR SECURITIES, AS WELL AS THE APPLICATION OF ANY, STATE, LOCAL AND NON-U.S. INCOME, ESTATE AND OTHER TAX CONSIDERATIONS.
Personal Holding Company Status
We would be subject to a second level of U.S. federal corporate income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company, or PHC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A U.S. corporation will generally be classified as a PHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year only if:

at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds, and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules), directly or indirectly, more than 50% of the stock of such corporation by value, and

at least 60% of such corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents).
This test applies on a year-by-year basis. Depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, it is possible that at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds, and charitable trusts, it is possible that more than 50% of our stock will be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by five or fewer such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not become a PHC in any given taxable year following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed PHC income, if any, for such taxable year, which generally includes our taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.
General Treatment of Units
There is no authority directly addressing the treatment, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, of instruments with terms substantially the same as the units and, therefore, their treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of two financial instruments, namely one share of our Class A common stock and one-sixth of one redeemable warrant to acquire one share of our Class A common stock. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner and, by purchasing a unit, you agree to adopt such treatment for tax purposes. Each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the share of Class A common stock and the one-sixth of one redeemable warrant based on their respective relative fair market
 
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values at the time of issuance. A holder’s initial tax basis in the share of Class A common stock and the one-sixth of one redeemable warrant included in each unit should equal the portion of the purchase price of the unit allocated thereto. The separation of the share of Class A common stock and the one-sixth of one redeemable warrant constituting a unit should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The right to receive distributable redeemable warrants will remain attached to our Class A common stock and will not be separately transferable, assignable or salable.
The foregoing treatment of the units and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts. Because there is no authority that directly addresses instruments that are similar to the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Each prospective investor should consult its tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal, state, local and any foreign tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit and its components).
The following discussion is based on the assumption that the characterization of the Class A common stock and redeemable warrants and the allocation methodology described above are respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
U.S. Holders
Taxation of Distributions
If we pay cash distributions to U.S. Holders of shares of our Class A common stock, such distributions will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits will constitute a return of capital that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A common stock. Any remaining excess will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock and will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock” below.
Dividends we pay to a U.S. Holder that is a taxable corporation generally will qualify for the dividends received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. With certain exceptions (including dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), and provided certain holding period requirements are met, dividends we pay to a non-corporate U.S. Holder will generally constitute “qualified dividends” that will be subject to tax at the preferential tax rate accorded to long-term capital gains. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. Holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements with respect to the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income, as the case may be.
Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock
A U.S. Holder will recognize gain or loss on the sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition (which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering) of our Class A common stock. Any such gain or loss will be capital gain or loss, and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. The amount of gain or loss recognized will generally be equal to the difference between (1) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A common stock is held as part of a unit at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the Class A common stock based upon the then fair market values of the Class A common stock and the one-sixth of one redeemable warrant included in the unit) and (2) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock so disposed of. A U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock will generally equal the U.S. Holder’s acquisition cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a share of Class A common stock or, as discussed below, the U.S. Holder’s initial basis for Class A
 
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common stock received upon exercise of a redeemable warrant) less any prior distributions treated as a non-taxable return of capital. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.
Redemption of Class A Common Stock
In the event that a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under “Description of Securities — Common Stock,” the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as a sale of the Class A common stock under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of Class A common stock under the tests described below, the tax consequences to the U.S. Holder will be the same as described under “U.S. Holders — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock” above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale of Class A common stock, the U.S. Holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution, the tax consequences of which are described above under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions.” Whether the redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend primarily on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the U.S. Holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. Holder as a result of owning redeemable warrants) both before and after the redemption. For a given U.S. Holder, the redemption of Class A common stock will generally be treated as a sale of the Class A common stock (rather than as a corporate distribution) if the redemption (1) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. Holder, (2) results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. Holder’s interest in us or (3) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. Holder. These tests are explained more fully below.
In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are satisfied, a U.S. Holder takes into account not only stock actually owned by the U.S. Holder, but also shares of our stock that are constructively owned by it. A U.S. Holder may constructively own stock owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. Holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. Holder, as well as any stock the U.S. Holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include Class A common stock which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the redeemable warrants. A redemption of a U.S. Holder’s stock will be substantially disproportionate with respect to the U.S. Holder if the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately following the redemption of common stock is, among other requirements, less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately before the redemption. Prior to our initial business combination, the Class A common stock may not be treated as voting stock for this purpose and, consequently, this substantially disproportionate test may not be applicable. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. Holder’s interest if either (1) all of the shares of our stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed or (2) all of the shares of our stock actually owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed and the U.S. Holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of stock owned by certain family members and the U.S. Holder does not constructively own any other shares of our stock (including any shares of our stock constructively owned by the U.S. Holder as a result of owning redeemable warrants). The redemption of the Class A common stock will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend if the redemption results in a “meaningful reduction” of the U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. The IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority stockholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a “meaningful reduction.” Each U.S. Holder should consult its tax advisor as to the tax consequences of a redemption, including the application of the constructive ownership rules described above.
If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, the redemption will be treated as a corporate distribution, the tax consequences of which are described under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions,” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. Holder in the redeemed Class A common stock will be added to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining stock, or, if it has none, to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its redeemable warrants or possibly in other stock constructively owned by it.
 
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Exercise of a Redeemable Warrant
Except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a redeemable warrant, a U.S. Holder will not recognize gain or loss upon the exercise of a redeemable warrant. The U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the share of our Class A common stock received upon exercise of the redeemable warrant will generally be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the redeemable warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the redeemable warrant, as described above under “— General Treatment of Units”) and the exercise price of such warrant. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock received upon exercise of the redeemable warrant would commence on the date of exercise of the redeemable warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the redeemable warrant; however, in either case the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the redeemable warrants.
The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a redeemable warrant are not clear under current tax law. A cashless exercise may be non-taxable, either because the exercise is not a realization event or because the exercise is treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either situation, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A common stock received would generally equal the holder’s tax basis in the redeemable warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as not being a realization event, it is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date of exercise of the redeemable warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the redeemable warrant. If, however, the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A common stock would include the holding period of the warrant.
It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss is recognized. In such event, a U.S. Holder would be deemed to have surrendered a number of redeemable warrants having a value equal to the exercise price of the remaining redeemable warrants. The U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between (1) the fair market value of the Class A common stock underlying the redeemable warrants deemed surrendered and (2) the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the redeemable warrants deemed surrendered. In this case, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A common stock received would equal the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the redeemable warrants exercised (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for the units that is allocated to the redeemable warrant, as described above under “— General Treatment of Units”) and the exercise price of such warrants. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date of exercise of the redeemable warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the redeemable warrant.
Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, including when a U.S. Holder’s holding period would commence with respect to the Class A common stock received, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, each U.S. Holder should consult its tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.
The U.S. federal income tax consequences of an exercise of a redeemable warrant occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the redeemable warrant for $0.01 as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants — Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share” or after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the redeemable warrant for $0.10 as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants — Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share” are unclear under current law. In the case of a cashless exercise, the exercise may be treated either as if we redeemed such redeemable warrant for shares of Class A common stock or as an exercise of the redeemable warrant. If the cashless exercise of a redeemable warrant for shares of Class A common stock is treated as a redemption, then such redemption generally should be treated as a recapitalization as described below in the second paragraph under the heading “— U.S. Holders — Sale, Exchange, Redemption, Expiration or Lapse of a Redeemable Warrant.” Alternatively, if the cashless exercise of a redeemable warrant is treated as an exercise of the redeemable warrant, the U.S. federal income tax consequences generally should be as described above in the second and third paragraphs under the heading “— U.S. Holders — Exercise of a Redeemable Warrant.” In the case of an exercise of a redeemable warrant for cash, the U.S. federal income tax treatment generally should be as
 
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described above in the first paragraph under the heading “— U.S. Holders — Exercise of a Redeemable Warrant.” Due to the lack of clarity under current law regarding the treatment described in this paragraph, there can be no assurance as to which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of the exercise of a redeemable warrant occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the redeemable warrant as described above.
Sale, Exchange, Redemption, Expiration or Lapse of a Redeemable Warrant
Upon a sale, exchange (other than by exercise) or redemption (other than a redemption for shares of Class A common stock) of a redeemable warrant (including, for this purpose, a redemption for cash as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants — Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share” or the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants — Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share”), a U.S. Holder will recognize taxable gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between (1) the amount realized upon such disposition (or, if the redeemable warrant is held as part of a unit at the time of the disposition of the unit, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the redeemable warrant based on the then fair market values of the redeemable warrant and the Class A common stock constituting such unit) and (2) the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the redeemable warrant (that is, the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the redeemable warrant, as described above under “— General Treatment of Units”). Such gain or loss will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the redeemable warrant is held by the U.S. Holder for more than one year at the time of such disposition or expiration. If a redeemable warrant expires or is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the redeemable warrant. The deductibility of capital losses against ordinary income is subject to certain limitations.
In the case of a redemption of redeemable warrants for shares of Class A common stock, such redemption generally should be treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, a U.S. Holder should not recognize any gain or loss on the redemption of redeemable warrants for shares of Class A common stock. A U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in the shares of Class A common stock received in the redemption should equal such holder’s aggregate tax basis in the redeemed warrants and the holding period for the shares of Class A common stock received in the redemption should include the holding period for the redeemed warrants.
Possible Constructive Distributions
The terms of each redeemable warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the redeemable warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution is generally not a taxable event. Nevertheless, a U.S. Holder of warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the holder’s proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease to the exercise price, including, for example, the decrease to the exercise price of the redeemable warrants where additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share, as described under “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants — Anti-dilution adjustments”) as a result of a distribution of cash to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock, which would be taxable to such U.S. Holders as described under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions” above. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as described under that section in the same manner as if such U.S. Holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest.
Distribution of Additional Redeemable Warrants
The authorities governing transactions such as the distribution of additional redeemable warrants before an initial business combination as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed
 
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business — Distribution of redeemable warrants to holders of Class A common stock not electing redemption” are complex and unclear in certain respects. Although not free from doubt, we expect that the distribution of additional redeemable warrants to a U.S. Holder should be treated as a non-taxable distribution. If the distribution of the additional redeemable warrants is non-taxable to a U.S. Holder, and the additional redeemable warrants that the U.S. Holder receives in the distribution have a fair market value equal to 15% or more of the fair market value of the U.S. Holder’s shares of our Class A common stock on the date of the distribution, the U.S. Holder must allocate its adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock between those shares and the additional redeemable warrants in proportion to their relative fair market values at that time. Otherwise, the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the additional redeemable warrants that the U.S. Holder receives in the distribution will be zero unless the U.S. Holder irrevocably elects, in its U.S. federal income tax return for the taxable year in which the additional redeemable warrants are received, to allocate its adjusted tax basis in its Class A common shares between those shares and the additional redeemable warrants as described in the preceding sentence.
No assurance can be given, however, that the IRS or the courts will agree with the U.S. federal income tax treatment described above. It is possible, for example, that the IRS could assert that the distribution of the additional redeemable warrants constitutes part of a “disproportionate distribution” within the meaning of Section 305(b)(2) of the Code. For this purpose, a “disproportionate distribution” is a distribution or a series of distributions, including deemed distributions, that has the effect of the receipt of cash or other property by some stockholders and an increase in the proportionate interest of other stockholders in a corporation’s assets or earnings and profits. For this purpose, distributions of cash or other property incident to an “isolated” redemption of stock do not cause a distribution or series of distributions to be disproportionate. If the distribution of the additional redeemable warrants is a taxable distribution, then U.S. Holders receiving the additional redeemable warrants would be treated as receiving an in-kind distribution in the form of additional redeemable warrants equal to the fair market value of such additional redeemable warrants at the time of such distribution. This taxable distribution would be governed by the rules described above under “— Taxation of Distributions.”
Prospective investors should consult their own tax advisors regarding the tax treatment of the distribution of the additional redeemable warrants.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding
In general, information reporting requirements may apply to dividends paid to a U.S. Holder and to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock and redeemable warrants, unless the U.S. Holder is an exempt recipient. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. Holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number or certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn).
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against a U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
Non-U.S. Holders
Taxation of Distributions
In general, any distributions (including constructive distributions described under “Non-U.S. Holders — Possible Constructive Distributions” below) we make to a non-U.S. Holder of shares of our Class A common stock, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles), will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, provided such dividends are not effectively connected with the non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States, we will be required to withhold tax from the gross amount of the dividend at a rate of 30%, unless such non-U.S. Holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, as applicable). In the case of any constructive dividend, it is possible that this tax would be withheld from any amount owed to a non-U.S. Holder by the applicable
 
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withholding agent, including cash distributions on other property or sale proceeds from redeemable warrants or other property subsequently paid or credited to such holder. Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing (but not below zero) the non-U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares of our Class A common stock and, to the extent such distribution exceeds the non-U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis, as gain realized from the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock, which will be treated as described under “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Redeemable Warrants” below. In addition, if we determine that we are classified as a “United States real property holding corporation” (see “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Redeemable Warrants” below), we will withhold 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits.
Dividends we pay to a non-U.S. Holder that are effectively connected with such non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (or, if an income tax treaty applies, are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the non-U.S. Holder) will generally not be subject to U.S. withholding tax, provided such non-U.S. Holder complies with certain certification and disclosure requirements (usually by providing an IRS Form W-8ECI). Instead, such dividends will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax, net of certain deductions, at the same graduated individual or corporate rates applicable to U.S. Holders. If the non-U.S. Holder is a corporation, dividends that are effectively connected income may also be subject to a “branch profits tax” at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty).
Exercise, Expiration or Lapse of a Redeemable Warrant
The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a non-U.S. Holder’s exercise of a redeemable warrant (including an exercise of a redeemable warrant occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the redeemable warrant for $0.01 as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants — Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share” or after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrant for $0.10 as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants — Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share”) generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise of a redeemable warrant by a U.S. Holder, as described under “U.S. Holders — Exercise of a Redeemable Warrant” above, although to the extent a cashless exercise results in a taxable exchange, the tax consequences to the non-U.S. Holder would be the same as those described below in “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Redeemable Warrants.” The U.S. federal income tax treatment of the expiration or lapse of a redeemable warrant held by a non-U.S. Holder generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the expiration or lapse of a redeemable warrant held by a U.S. Holder, as described under “U.S. Holders — Sale, Exchange, Redemption, Expiration or Lapse of a Redeemable Warrant” above.
Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants
A non-U.S. Holder will generally not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax in respect of gain recognized on a sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock, which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or redeemable warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our redeemable warrants), in each case without regard to whether those securities were held as part of a unit, unless:

the gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by the non-U.S. Holder within the United States (and, if an applicable income tax treaty so requires, is attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the non-U.S. Holder);

the non-U.S. Holder is an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition and certain other conditions are met; or

we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of disposition or the
 
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period that the non-U.S. Holder held our Class A common stock, and, in the case where shares of our Class A common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, the non-U.S. Holder has owned, directly or constructively, more than 5% of our Class A common stock at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or such non-U.S. Holder’s holding period for the shares of our Class A common stock. There can be no assurance that our Class A common stock will be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market for this purpose.
Gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. Any gains described in the first bullet point above of a non-U.S. Holder that is a foreign corporation may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate (or lower applicable treaty rate). Gain described in the second bullet point above will generally be subject to a flat 30% rate (or lower applicable treaty rate). Non-U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding possible eligibility for benefits under income tax treaties.
If the third bullet point above applies to a non-U.S. Holder, gain recognized by such holder on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our Class A common stock or redeemable warrants will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, a buyer of our Class A common stock or redeemable warrants from such holder may be required to withhold U.S. income tax at a rate of 15% of the amount realized upon such disposition. We cannot determine whether we will be a United States real property holding corporation in the future until we complete an initial business combination. We will be classified as a United States real property holding corporation if the fair market value of our “United States real property interests” equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of the fair market value of our worldwide real property interests plus our other assets used or held for use in a trade or business, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” you should consult your tax advisors regarding the application of these rules.
Possible Constructive Distributions
The terms of each redeemable warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the redeemable warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution is generally not a taxable event. Nevertheless, a non-U.S. Holder of redeemable warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the holder’s proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease to the exercise price, including, for example, the decrease to the exercise price of the warrants where additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share, as described under “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants — Anti-dilution adjustments”) as a result of a distribution of cash to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock, which would be taxable to such non-U.S. Holders as described under “Non-U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions” above. A non-U.S. Holder would be subject to U.S. federal income tax withholding under that section in the same manner as if such non-U.S. Holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest without any corresponding receipt of cash.
Distribution of Additional Redeemable Warrants
The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a non-U.S. Holder’s receipt of additional redeemable warrants before an initial business combination as described in the section of this prospectus captioned “Proposed business — Distribution of redeemable warrants to holders of Class A common stock not electing redemption” generally should correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a U.S. Holder on receipt of additional redeemable warrants, as described under “U.S. Holders — Distribution of additional redeemable warrants” above. If our position described therein is determined by the IRS or a court to be incorrect, non-U.S. Holders receiving the additional redeemable warrants would be treated as receiving an in-kind distribution in the form of additional redeemable warrants equal to the fair market value of such additional redeemable warrants at the time of such distribution, with the tax consequences described
 
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above under “— Taxation of Distributions.” In that event, if a distribution of additional redeemable warrants before an initial business combination were to be subject to withholding tax as described above under “— Taxation of Distributions,” the applicable withholding agent might withhold additional redeemable warrants whose aggregate fair market value equals the amount of the applicable withholding tax, or might withhold from any other amount owed to the non-U.S. Holder, including cash distributions on other property or sale proceeds from redeemable warrants or other property subsequently paid or credited to the holder.
Redemption of Class A Common Stock and Redeemable Warrants
The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a non-U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock or redeemable warrants pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under “Description of Securities — Common Stock” or “Description of Securities — Redeemable warrants,” as applicable, will generally correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock or redeemable warrants, as described under “U.S. Holders — Redemption of Class A common stock” or “U.S. Holders — Sale, Exchange, Redemption, Expiration or Lapse of a Redeemable Warrant” above, as applicable, and the consequences of the redemption to the non-U.S. Holder will be as described above under “Non-U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions” and “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Redeemable Warrants,” as applicable.
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code and the Treasury Regulations and administrative guidance promulgated thereunder (commonly referred as the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” or “FATCA”) generally impose withholding at a rate of 30% in certain circumstances on dividends (including constructive dividends) in respect of our securities which are held by or through certain foreign financial institutions (including investment funds), unless any such institution (1) enters into, and complies with, an agreement with the IRS to report, on an annual basis, information with respect to interests in, and accounts maintained by, the institution that are owned by certain U.S. persons and by certain non-U.S. entities that are wholly or partially owned by U.S. persons and to withhold on certain payments, or (2) if required under an intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country, reports such information to its local tax authority, which will exchange such information with the U.S. authorities. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country may modify these requirements. Accordingly, the entity through which our securities are held will affect the determination of whether such withholding is required. Similarly, dividends in respect of our securities held by an investor that is a non-financial non-U.S. entity that does not qualify under certain exceptions will generally be subject to withholding at a rate of 30%, unless such entity either (1) certifies to us or the applicable withholding agent that such entity does not have any “substantial United States owners” or (2) provides certain information regarding the entity’s “substantial United States owners,” which will in turn be provided to the U.S. Department of Treasury. The IRS has issued proposed Treasury regulations (on which taxpayers may rely until final regulations are issued) that would generally not apply these withholding requirements to gross proceeds from sales or other disposition proceeds from our units, shares of Class A common stock and redeemable warrants. If FATCA withholding is imposed, a beneficial owner that is not a foreign financial institution generally will be entitled to a refund of any amounts withheld by filing a U.S. federal income tax return (which may entail significant administrative burden). Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the possible implications of FATCA on their investment in our securities.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding
In general, information reporting requirements will apply to payments of dividends and proceeds from the sale of our securities to non-U.S. Holders that are not exempt recipients. We must report annually to the IRS and to each such holder the amount of dividends or other distributions we pay to such non-U.S. Holder on our shares of Class A common stock and the amount of tax withheld with respect to those distributions, regardless of whether withholding is required. The IRS may make copies of the information returns reporting those dividends and amounts withheld available to the tax authorities in the country in which the non-U.S. Holder resides pursuant to the provisions of an applicable income tax treaty or exchange of information treaty.
 
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The gross amount of dividends and proceeds from the disposition of our Class A common stock or redeemable warrants paid to a holder that fails to provide the appropriate certification in accordance with applicable U.S. Treasury regulations generally will be subject to backup withholding at the applicable rate.
Information reporting and backup withholding are generally not required with respect to the amount of any proceeds from the sale by a non-U.S. Holder of Class A common stock or redeemable warrants outside the United States through a foreign office of a foreign broker that does not have certain specified connections to the United States. However, if a non-U.S. Holder sells Class A common stock or redeemable warrants through a U.S. broker or the U.S. office of a foreign broker, the broker will generally be required to report to the IRS the amount of proceeds paid to such holder, unless the non-U.S. Holder provides appropriate certification (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, as applicable) to the broker of its status as a non-U.S. Holder or such non-U.S. Holder is an exempt recipient. In addition, for information reporting purposes, certain non-U.S. brokers with certain relationships with the United States will be treated in a manner similar to U.S. brokers.
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts we withhold under the backup withholding rules may be refunded or credited against a holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, if any, by the IRS if the required information is furnished in a timely manner to the IRS.
 
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UNDERWRITING
Imperial Capital, LLC is acting as the sole book-running manager and underwriter of this offering. Subject to the terms and conditions stated in the underwriting agreement dated the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to sell to the underwriter, and the underwriter has agreed to purchase from us, 20,000,000 units in this offering at the public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions set forth on the cover page of this prospectus:
A copy of the form of underwriting agreement has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.
In connection with this offering, the underwriter or securities dealers may distribute prospectuses electronically.
Listing of our Securities
We intend to list our units on Nasdaq under the symbol “OSTRU.” We expect that our Class A common stock and redeemable warrants will be listed under the symbols “OSTR” and “OSTRW,” respectively, once the Class A common stock and detachable redeemable warrants begin separate trading.
Pricing of this Offering
We have been advised by the underwriter that it proposes to offer the units to the public at the offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. The underwriter may allow some dealers concessions not in excess of $      per unit and the dealers may also allow a concession not in excess of $      per unit to other dealers.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for our securities. The public offering price of the units was negotiated between us and the underwriter. Factors considered in determining the prices and terms of the units include:

the history of other similarly structured blank check companies;

prior offerings of those companies;

our prospects for consummating our initial business combination with an operating business at attractive values;

our capital structure;

securities exchange listing requirements;

market demand;

expected liquidity of our securities; and

general conditions of the securities markets at the time of the offering.
However, although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities for an operating company in a particular industry since the underwriter is unable to compare our financial results and prospects with those of public companies operating in the same industry.
Over-allotment Option
We have granted the underwriter an option to purchase up to 4,500,000 additional units at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The underwriter may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, made in connection with this offering. The underwriter has 45 days from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.
 
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Commissions and Discounts
The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriter in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option.
Payable by Oyster Enterprises
Acquisition Corp.
No exercise
Full exercise
Per unit(1)
$ 0.55 $ 0.55
Total(1) $ 11,000,000 $ 12,650,000
(1)
Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate, payable to the underwriter for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriter only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus. The underwriter will receive compensation in addition to the underwriting discount.
We estimate that our portion of the total expenses of this offering payable by us will be $750,000, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions.
We have agreed to reimburse the underwriter for all expenses and fees related to the review by FINRA, which will not exceed $      .
If we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate, the trustee and the underwriter have agreed that (i) they will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account upon liquidation, and (ii) that the deferred underwriter’s discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes to the public stockholders.
No discounts or commissions will be paid on the sale of the private warrants.
Private Placement Warrants
The underwriter has committed to purchase 1,500,000 (or 1,725,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant in a private placement that will close simultaneously with this offering. These warrants have been deemed by FINRA to be underwriting compensation in connection with this offering and, pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(e)(1), may not be sold during the offering, or sold, transferred, assigned, pledged, or hypothecated, or be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put, or call transaction that would result in the effective economic disposition of such securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or commencement of sales of the offering, except as permitted by FINRA Rule 5110(e)(2). The private placement warrants held by the underwriter will not be exercisable more than five years from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8)(A).
Sale of Securities
We, our initial stockholders and our officers and directors have agreed that, for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus, we and they will not, without the prior written consent of the representative, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any units, warrants, shares of common stock or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of common stock, subject to certain exceptions. The representative in its sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice. Our initial stockholders, officers
 
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and directors are also subject to separate transfer restrictions on their founder shares and private placement warrants pursuant to the insider letters as described herein.
Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any founder shares held by them until the earlier to occur of: (1) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; or (2) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the “lock-up.” Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up. The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or saleable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and the representative.
Regulatory Restrictions on Purchase of Securities
Rules of the SEC may limit the ability of the underwriter to bid for or purchase our units before the distribution of the units is completed. However, the underwriter may engage in the following activities in accordance with the rules:

Stabilizing Transactions.   The underwriter may make bids or purchases solely for the purpose of preventing or retarding a decline in the price of our units, as long as stabilizing bids do not exceed the offering price of $10.00 and the underwriter complies with all other applicable rules.

Over-Allotments and Syndicate Coverage Transactions.   The underwriter may create a short position in our units by selling more of our units than are set forth on the cover page of this prospectus up to the amount of the over-allotment option. This is known as a covered short position. The underwriter may also create a short position in our units by selling more of our units than are set forth on the cover page of this prospectus and the units allowed by the over-allotment option. This is known as a naked short position. If the underwriter creates a short position during the offering, the underwriter may engage in syndicate covering transactions by purchasing our units in the open market. The underwriter may also elect to reduce any short position by exercising all or part of the over-allotment option. Determining what method to use in reducing the short position depends on how the units trade in the aftermarket following the offering. If the unit price drops following the offering, the short position is usually covered with shares purchased by the underwriter in the aftermarket. However, the underwriter may cover a short position by exercising the over-allotment option even if the unit price drops following the offering. If the unit price rises after the offering, then the over-allotment option is used to cover the short position. If the short position is more than the over-allotment option, the naked short must be covered by purchases in the aftermarket, which could be at prices above the offering price.

Penalty Bids.   The underwriter may reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the units originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions.
Stabilization and syndicate covering transactions may cause the price of our securities to be higher than they would be in the absence of these transactions. The imposition of a penalty bid might also have an effect on the prices of our securities if it discourages resales of our securities.
 
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Neither we nor the underwriter make any representation or prediction as to the effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of our securities. These transactions may occur on Nasdaq, in the over-the-counter market or on any trading market. If any of these transactions are commenced, they may be discontinued without notice at any time.
Other Terms
We are not under any contractual obligation to engage the underwriter to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, the underwriter may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future. If the underwriter provides services to us after this offering, we may pay the underwriter fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with the underwriter and no fees for such services will be paid to the underwriter prior to the date that is 90 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriting compensation in connection with this offering and we may pay the underwriter of this offering or any entity with which it is affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination.
Neither the underwriter nor its affiliates are under any obligation to provide us services in the future, including with respect to our initial business combination. The underwriter and/or its affiliates engage in advisory, underwriting, lending and financing, principal investing, sales and trading, research and investment management activities with a variety of clients and counterparties, corporate, governmental, institutional and individual. Consequently, at the time of our initial business combination the underwriter may advise or provide financing or other services to the target business, the sellers of the target business or other entities competing with us to acquire the target business. In addition, the underwriter and/or its affiliates may compete with us in trying acquire a target business or have interests in the target business we acquire.
The underwriter and its affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates. They have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions.
Indemnification
We have agreed to indemnify the underwriter against some liabilities, including civil liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriter may be required to make in this respect.
Electronic Distribution
A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the Internet sites or through other online services maintained by the underwriter participating in this offering, or by their affiliates. In those cases, prospective investors may view offering terms online and, depending upon the particular underwriter, prospective investors may be allowed to place orders online. The underwriter may agree with us to allocate a specific number of units for sale to online brokerage account holders. Any such allocation for online distributions will be made by the underwriter on the same basis as other allocations. Other than the prospectus in electronic format, the information on any underwriter’s website and any information contained in any other website maintained by an underwriter is not part of the prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, has not been approved and/or endorsed by us or any underwriter in its capacity as underwriter and should not be relied upon by investors.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Canada
The units may be sold only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of the units must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.
 
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Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if the prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.
Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriter is not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the European Economic Area
In relation to each member state of the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom (each a “Relevant State”), no units have been offered or will be offered pursuant to this offering to the public in that Relevant State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the units which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation), except that offers of units may be made to the public in that Relevant State at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation:
(a)
to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under the Prospectus Regulation;
(b)
to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the underwriter for any such offer; or
(c)
in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation,
provided that no such offer of units shall require us or any underwriter to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any units in any Relevant State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any units, and the expression “Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.
Notice to Prospective Investors in United Kingdom
The underwriter represents, warrants and agrees as follows:
(a)
it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (“FSMA”) to persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling with Article 19(5) of the FSMA Order 2005 or in circumstances in which section 21 of FSMA does not apply to the company; and
(b)
it has complied with, and will comply with all applicable provisions of FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to the units in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom.
 
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Notice to Prospective Investors in Australia
This prospectus is not a disclosure document for the purposes of Australia’s Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (“Corporation Act”), has not been lodged with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission and is only directed to the categories of exempt persons set out below. Accordingly, if you receive this prospectus in Australia:
You confirm and warrant that you are a “wholesale client” under section 761G of the Corporation Act and either:

a “sophisticated investor” under section 708(8)(a) or (b) of the Corporations Act;

a “sophisticated investor” under section 708(8)(c) or (d) of the Corporations Act and that you have provided an accountant’s certificate to us which complies with the requirements of section 708(8)(c)(i) or (ii) of the Corporations Act and related regulations before the offer has been made;

a person associated with us under Section 708(12) of the Corporations Act; or

a “professional investor” within the meaning of section 708(11)(a) or (b) of the Corporations Act.
You warrant and agree that you will not offer any of the units issued to you pursuant to this prospectus for resale in Australia within 12 months of those securities being issued unless any such resale offer is exempt from the requirement to issue a disclosure document under section 708 of the Corporations Act.
To the extent that you are unable to confirm or warrant that you are a wholesale client and either an exempt sophisticated investor, associated person or professional investor under the Corporations Act and/or warrant and agree that you will comply with the 12 month on-sale restrictions, any offer made to you under this prospectus is void and incapable of acceptance.
The information contained in this prospectus is not investment or financial product advice (nor tax, accounting or legal advice). We make no recommendations as to whether you should participate in the offering. In preparing this prospectus, we have not taken into account the individual objectives, financial situation or needs of individual investors. Accordingly, before making an investment decision, you may wish to consult with your legal, financial, tax or other professional adviser.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Hong Kong
The units may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong) and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the units may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to units which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Israel
This document does not constitute a prospectus under the Israeli Securities Law, 5728-1968, or the Securities Law, and has not been filed with or approved by the Israel Securities Authority. In Israel, this prospectus is being distributed only to, and is directed only at, and any offer of the units is directed only at, (i) a limited number of persons in accordance with the Israeli Securities Law and (ii) investors listed in the first addendum, or the Addendum, to the Israeli Securities Law, consisting primarily of joint investment in trust funds, provident funds, insurance companies, banks, portfolio managers, investment advisors, members of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, underwriters, venture capital funds, entities with equity in excess of NIS 50 million and “qualified individuals,” each as defined in the Addendum (as it may be amended from
 
167

 
time to time), collectively referred to as qualified investors (in each case, purchasing for their own account or, where permitted under the Addendum, for the accounts of their clients who are investors listed in the Addendum). Qualified investors are required to submit written confirmation that they fall within the scope of the Addendum, are aware of the meaning of same and agree to it.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Japan
The units have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948, as amended) and, accordingly, will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan, or for the benefit of any Japanese Person or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to any Japanese Person, except in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines promulgated by relevant Japanese governmental or regulatory authorities in effect at the relevant time. For the purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese Person” shall mean any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Singapore
This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the units may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the units be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”), (ii) to a relevant person pursuant to Section 275(1), or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA, in each case subject to compliance with conditions set forth in the SFA.
Where the units are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person that is (a) a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 14A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or (b) a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary of the trust is an individual who is an accredited investor, shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA, except:

to an institutional investor (for corporations, under Section 274 of the SFA) or to a relevant person defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or to any person pursuant to an offer that is made on terms that such shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or such rights and interest in that trust are acquired at a consideration of not less than $200,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) for each transaction, whether such amount is to be paid for in cash or by exchange of securities or other assets, and further for corporations, in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA;

where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; or

where the transfer is by operation of law.
Notification under Section 309B of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore:   The units are prescribed capital markets products (as defined in the Securities and Futures (Capital Markets Products) Regulations 2018 and Excluded Investment Products (as defined in MAS Notice SFA 04-N12: Notice on the Sale of Investment Products and MAS Notice FAA-N16: Notice on Recommendations on Investment Products).
 
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Notice to Prospective Investors in Switzerland
The units may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (“SIX”) or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This prospectus has been prepared without regard to the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the units or the offering may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.
Neither this prospectus nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the offering, the Company or the units have been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this prospectus will not be filed with, and the offer of units will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, and the offer of units has not been and will not be authorized under the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes (“CISA”). The investor protection afforded to acquirers of interests in collective investment schemes under the CISA does not extend to acquirers of units.
 
169

 
LEGAL MATTERS
Sidley Austin LLP has passed upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus on behalf of us. Certain legal matters will be passed upon on behalf of the underwriter by Paul Hastings LLP, New York, New York.
EXPERTS
The financial statements of Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp. as of November 16, 2020, and for the period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020, appearing in this prospectus have been audited by WithumSmith+Brown, PC, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon, appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance on such report given on the authority of such firm as an experts in auditing and accounting.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.
Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
 
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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholder of
Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of November 16, 2020, and the related statements of operations, changes in stockholder’s equity and cash flows for the period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 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 November 16, 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the “PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.
New York, New York
November 24, 2020
 
F-2

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE SHEET
November 16, 2020
Assets:
Current assets:
Cash
$ 25,000
Total current assets
25,000
Deferred offering costs associated with proposed public offering
247,000
Total assets
$ 272,000
Liabilities and Stockholder’s Equity:
Current liabilities:
Accrued expenses
$ 21,000
Accrued offering costs
247,000
Total current liabilities
268,000
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 5)
Stockholder’s Equity:
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 shares issued and outstanding(1)
575
Additional paid-in capital
24,425
Accumulated deficit
(21,000)
Total Stockholder’s Equity
4,000
Total Liabilities and Stockholder’s Equity
$ 272,000
(1)
This number includes up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 4).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of this financial statement.
F-3

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
Formation and operating costs
$ 21,000
Net loss
$ (21,000)
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1)
5,000,000
Basic and diluted net loss per share
$ (0.00)
(1)
This number excludes an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 4).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of this financial statement.
F-4

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
Common Stock
Additional
Paid-in
Capital
Accumulated
Deficit
Total
Stockholder’s
Equity
Class B
Shares
Amount
Balance — October 22, 2020 (inception)
$ $ $ $
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor(1)
5,750,000 575 24,425 25,000
Net loss
(21,000) (21,000)
Balance — November 16, 2020
5,750,000 $ 575 $ 24,425
$
(21,000)
$ 4,000
(1)
This number includes an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 4).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of this financial statement.
F-5

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net loss
$ (21,000)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accrued expenses
21,000
Net cash used in operating activities
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor
25,000
Net cash provided by financing activities
25,000
Net increase in cash
25,000
Cash — beginning of the period
Cash — ending of the period
$
25,000
Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities:
Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering costs
$ 247,000
The accompanying notes are an integral part of this financial statement.
F-6

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
Note 1 — Description of Organization and Business Operations
Organization and General
Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company that was incorporated in Delaware on October 22, 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 “Initial Business Combination”). The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”).
As of November 16, 2020, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020 relates to the Company’s formation and the Company’s proposed initial public offering (“Proposed Public Offering”) described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of the 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 Proposed Public Offering (Note 3). The Company has selected December 31st as its fiscal year end.
Sponsor and Proposed Financing
The Company’s sponsor is Oyster Enterprises LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The Company intends to finance the Initial Business Combination with $200.0 million of proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering (Note 3) and $5.5 million (or $6.1 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants (as defined below) (Note 4). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering and the Private Placement (as defined below) (Note 4), $200.0 million (or $230.0 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) (discussed below).
The Trust Account
The proceeds held in the Trust Account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of one hundred and eighty-five (185) days or less or in money market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and that invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. Funds will remain in the Trust Account until the earlier of (i) the consummation of the Initial Business Combination or (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account proceeds as described below. The remaining proceeds outside the Trust Account is expected to be $750,000 and may be used to pay for business, legal and accounting due diligence on prospective acquisitions and continuing general and administrative expenses.
Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to the Company to pay its taxes (less up to $100,000 interest to pay dissolution expenses), the proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will not be released from the Trust Account until the earlier of: (i) the completion of the Company’s Initial Business Combination; (ii) the redemption of any shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the Units (as defined below) (Note 3) in the Proposed Public Offering (the “Public Shares”) that have been properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to provide holders of Public Shares the right to have their Public Shares redeemed or to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if the Company does not complete its Initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (as such period may be extended by a stockholder vote, the “Combination Period”) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ right for pre-Initial Business Combination activity; and (iii) the redemption of 100% of the Public Shares if the Company is unable to complete an Initial Business
 
F-7

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
Combination within the Combination Period, subject to the requirements of law. The proceeds deposited in the Trust Account could become subject to the claims of the Company’s creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of the Company’s public stockholders.
Initial Business Combination
The Initial Business Combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in the trust account and taxes payable on the income earned in the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the Initial Business Combination. Furthermore, there is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect an Initial Business Combination.
The Company, after signing a definitive agreement for an Initial Business Combination, will either (i) seek stockholder approval of the Initial Business Combination at a meeting called for such purpose in connection with which stockholders may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the Initial Business Combination, for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the Initial Business Combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay the Company’s taxes, or (ii) provide stockholders with the opportunity to sell their Public Shares to the Company by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount in cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the Initial Business Combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay the Company’s taxes. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of the Initial Business Combination or will allow stockholders to sell their Public Shares in a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require the Company to seek stockholder approval, unless a vote is required by law or under NASDAQ rules. If the Company seeks stockholder approval, it will complete its Initial Business Combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the Initial Business Combination. However, in no event will the Company redeem its Public Shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of the Initial Business Combination. In such case, the Company would not proceed with the redemption of the Public Shares and the related Initial Business Combination, and instead may search for an alternate Initial Business Combination.
If the Company holds a stockholder vote or there is a tender offer for shares in connection with an Initial Business Combination, a public stockholder will have the right to redeem its Public Shares for an amount in cash equal to its pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the Initial Business Combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay the Company’s taxes.
Pursuant to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if the Company is unable to complete the Initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay the Company’s taxes (less $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the
 
F-8

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
The Sponsor and the Company’s directors and officers will enter into a letter agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they will agree to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Founder Shares (as defined below) (Note 4) held by them if the Company fails to complete an Initial Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor or any of the Company’s directors, officers or affiliates acquires shares of Class A common stock in or after the Proposed Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such shares if the Company fails to complete the Initial Business Combination within the Combination Period.
Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The financial statements of the Company are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
The Company does not have sufficient liquidity to meet its anticipated obligations over the next year from the date of issuance of these financial statements. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” management has determined that the Company has access to funds from the Sponsor that are sufficient to fund the working capital needs of the Company until the earlier of the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering and one year from the date of issuance of these financial statements.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an emerging growth company, as defined in 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 accounting standards issued subsequent to the enactment of the JOBS Act, until such time as those standards apply to private companies. The Company has elected to use this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the earlier of the date that the Company (i) is no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opts out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, these financial statements may not be comparable to the financial statements of issuers who are required to comply with the effective dates for new or revised accounting standards based on public company effective dates.
The Company will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of the Proposed Public Offering, (b) in which
 
F-9

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
the Company’s total annual gross revenue is at least $1.07 billion or (c) when the Company is deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of its common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th and (ii) the date on which the Company has issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Cash
Cash consists of bank deposits held in business checking and interest-bearing deposit accounts. As of November 16, 2020, the Company did not have any cash equivalent balances, defined as highly liquid financial instruments purchased with original maturities of three months or less.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000. As of November 16, 2020, the Company has not experienced losses on the account and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on its account.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management is continuing to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and closing of the Proposed Public Offering and/or search for a target company, the specific impacts are not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement,’ approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.
Deferred Offering Costs
Deferred offering costs consist of underwriting, legal, accounting and other expenses incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering and that will be charged to stockholder’s equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. Should the Proposed Public Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses to be incurred, will be charged to operations.
Net Loss Per Common Share
Net loss per common share is computed by dividing net loss applicable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period, plus, to the extent dilutive, the incremental number of shares of common stock to settle warrants, excluding shares of common stock subject to forfeiture. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 750,000 shares of common stock that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter. As of November 16, 2020, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per common share is the same as basic loss per common share for the period.
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC 740 Income Taxes, whereby deferred income tax assets are recognized for deductible temporary differences, operating losses, and tax loss carryforwards, and
 
F-10

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
deferred income tax liabilities are recognized for taxable temporary differences. Deferred income tax balances reflect the effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities and their tax bases and are stated at enacted tax rates expected to be in effect when taxes are actually paid or recovered. Deferred income tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, considering all sources of taxable income, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred income tax assets will not be realized. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are adjusted for the effects of changes in tax laws and rates on the date of enactment.
The Company recognizes the income tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The income tax benefits recognized in the financial statements from such a position are measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of November 16, 2020. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of November 16, 2020. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.
The provision for income taxes was deemed to be de minimis for the period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have an effect on the Company’s financial statements.
Note 3 — Proposed Public Offering
Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale up to 20,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit (the “Units”). The Company expects that the Sponsor will purchase an aggregate of 5,500,000 (or 6,100,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant (as defined below) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering (see Note 4).
Each Unit consists of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, one-sixth of one detachable redeemable warrant (each, a “Detachable Redeemable Warrant” and, collectively, the “Detachable Redeemable Warrants”) and a contingent right to receive at least one-third of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Distributable Redeemable Warrant” and, collectively, the “Distributable Redeemable Warrants”) at the distribution time (as defined below). Each whole Warrant (as defined below) (Note 4) entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment.
The Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that at the distribution time the holders of the Public Shares that remain outstanding following the satisfaction of the stockholders’ right to redeem the Public Shares in connection with the initial Business Combination will receive their allotted share of Distributable Redeemable Warrants equal to one-third per Public share, which equates to their pro-rata portion of the 6,666,666 Distributable Redeemable Warrants assuming only 20,000,000 Public Shares are issued and no Public Shares are redeemed. By way of example, assuming 20,000,000 Public Shares are outstanding and 90% of those shares remain outstanding after redemptions, then the holders of the 18,000,000 Public Shares remaining outstanding will each receive one-third of a Distributable Redeemable Warrant by way of 6,000,000 Distributable Redeemable Warrants being distributed pro rata to the 18,000,000 Public Shares outstanding. The remaining undistributed number of Distributable Redeemable Warrants will be distributed as described below. Public Stockholders who exercise their redemption rights are
 
F-11

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
not entitled to receive any distribution of Distributable Redeemable Warrants in respect of such redeemed Public Shares. To the extent there are redemptions, the Distributable Redeemable Warrants foregone by the redeeming Public Stockholders will be issued on a pro rata basis to the holders of the Public Shares that did not exercise their right to redeem their shares in connection with the Initial Business Combination as additional Distributable Redeemable Warrants. The right of any Public Stockholder to receive any additional Distributable Redeemable Warrants with respect to each Public Share they hold is contingent upon such share not being redeemed in connection with the initial Business Combination. The number of Distributable Redeemable Warrants to be distributed in respect of each unredeemed Public Share is contingent upon the aggregate number of Public Shares that are redeemed in connection with the Initial Business Combination. The right to receive Distributable Redeemable Warrants will remain attached to the Public Shares and will not be separately transferable, assignable or salable. The Distributable Redeemable Warrants will be distributed at the “distribution time,” which will be immediately after the stockholders’ right to redeem Public Shares in connection with the Initial Business Combination and immediately before the closing of the initial Business Combination. The Distributable Redeemable Warrants, together with the Detachable Redeemable Warrants, are collectively referred to herein as the “Public Warrants”.
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of its Initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or their affiliates, without taking into account any shares of Class B common stock held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the amount that is the total equity proceeds (and interest thereon) and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of the Company’s Class A common stock during the 20-trading-day period starting on the trading day prior to the date on which the Company consummates its Initial Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted, to the nearest cent, to 115% of the higher of the Newly Issued Price and the Market Value, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described below will be adjusted, to the nearest cent, to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Newly Issued Price and the Market Value, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described below will be adjusted to the nearest cent, to be equal to the higher of the Newly Issued Price and the Market Value.
No fractional shares will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole Warrants will trade. Each Warrant will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of the Company’s Initial Business Combination or 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering and will expire five years after the completion of the Company’s Initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
Except with respect to any Private Placement Warrants that are held by the initial purchasers thereof or their permitted transferees, once the Warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding Warrants in whole and not in part at a price of $0.01 per Warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, if and only if the last reported sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share 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.
In addition, once the Warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding Warrants in whole and not in part at a price of $0.10 per Warrant upon a minimum 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table set forth in the section of the prospectus for the Proposed Public Offeirng entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants” based on the redemption date and the Fair Market Value and (i) if, and only if the last reported sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00
 
F-12

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the Warrant holders and (ii) if, and only, if the last reported sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock is less than $18.00 per share 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 Private Placement Warrants are concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants.
The Company expects to grant the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional Units to cover any over-allotments at the Proposed Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The Units that would be issued in connection with the over-allotment option would be identical to the Units issued in the initial closing of the Proposed Public Offering.
Note 4 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On November 16, 2020, the Sponsor purchased 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”) for an aggregate price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. As used herein, unless the context otherwise requires, the Founder Shares shall be deemed to include the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion thereof. The Founder Shares are identical to the Class A common stock included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering except that the holders of the Founder Shares have the right to elect all of the directors prior to the Initial Business Combination, the Founder Shares automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the Company’s Initial Business Combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustments pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, and the Founder Shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below. The Sponsor has agreed to forfeit up to 750,000 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters. The forfeiture will be adjusted to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters so that the Founder Shares will represent 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the Proposed Public Offering and related to the closing of the Initial Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of the Proposed Public Offering plus all shares of Class A common stock issued or deemed issued in connection with the Initial Business Combination.
The Company’s initial stockholders will agree, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the Initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the Initial Business Combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Company’s 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 Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Private Placement
The Company expects that the Sponsor and, Imperial Capital LLC (“Imperial”), an underwriter of the Proposed Public Offering, will purchase an aggregate of 5,500,000 (or 6,100,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants” and, together with the Public
 
F-13

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
Warrants, the “Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per whole warrant ($5.5 million in the aggregate or $6.1 million in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement (the “Private Placement”) that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. Among the Private Placement Warrants, 4,000,000 Private Placement Warrants (or 4,375,000 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) is expected to be purchased by the Sponsor and 1,500,000 Private Placement Warrants (or 1,725,000 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) is expected to be purchased by Imperial. Each whole Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole share of the Company’s Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. A portion of the purchase price of the Private Placement Warrants will be added to the proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering to be held in the Trust Account such that at the closing of the Proposed Public Offering $200.0 million (or $230.0 million if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be held in the Trust Account. If the Initial Business Combination is not completed within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable in certain redemption scenarios and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor, Imperial or their permitted transferees.
The holders of the Private Placement Warrants will agree, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants until 30 days after the completion of the Initial Business Combination.
Related Party Loans
The Sponsor has agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of $350,000 to cover expenses related to the Proposed Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). The Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of November 30, 2021 or the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. The Note was executed on November 19, 2020; as such, as of November 16, 2020, the Note was not executed and the Company had not borrowed any amount under the Note. See Note 7 for further information.
In addition, in order to fund finance costs in connection with the Initial Business Combination, the Sponsor, Alden Global Capital LLC, or the Company’s directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes the Initial Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. In the event that the Initial Business Combination is not completed, the Company may use a portion of the 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 terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Up to $1.5 million of the Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of November 16, 2020, there were no loan agreements entered into in addition to the Note.
Note 5 — Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants will be entitled to registration rights (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion of such shares to shares of Class A common stock) pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed on or before the date of the prospectus for the Proposed Public Offering. These holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up
 
F-14

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
period for the securities to be registered. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company expects to pay an underwriting discount of 2.0% of the per Unit offering price to the underwriters at the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, with an additional fee (the “Deferred Discount”) of 3.5% of the gross offering proceeds payable upon the Company’s completion of an Initial Business Combination. The Deferred Discount will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event the Company completes its Initial Business Combination. If the underwriters sell more Units than initially allocated, the Company has granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable for 45 days from the date of the proposed offering, to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional Units at the public offering price less the underwriting discount. The underwriters may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, in connection with the proposed offering. To the extent the option is exercised, each underwriter must purchase a number of additional Units approximately proportionate to that underwriter’s initial purchase commitment. Any Units issued or sold under the option will be issued and sold on the same terms and conditions as the other Units in the Proposed Public Offering.
Note 6 — Stockholder’s Equity
Preferred Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of November 16, 2020, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.
Class A Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of November 16, 2020, there were no shares of Class A common stock issued or outstanding.
If the Company enters into an Initial Business Combination, it may (depending on the terms of such an Initial Business Combination) be required to increase the number of shares of Class A common stock which the Company is authorized to issue at the same time as the Company’s stockholders vote on the Initial Business Combination to the extent the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with the Initial Business Combination.
The shares of Class A common stock are redeemable upon the consummation of the Company’s Initial Business Combination, subject to limitation described in Note 1. In addition, if the Company is unable to complete the Initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and redeem the shares of Class A common stock at a per-share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares (see Note 1). In accordance with ASC Topic 480 Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity, the Company will classify the shares of Class A common stock subject to redemption rights as temporary equity in the event of the consummation of the Company’s Initial Business Combination is not solely within the control of the Company. As a result, upon completion of the Proposed Public Offering, the shares of Class A common stock will be recorded at redemption amount and classified as temporary equity.
Class B Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 10,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of November 16, 2020, there were 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding, of which 750,000 shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that the Founder Shares will represent 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock after the completion of the Proposed Public Offering (Note 4).
 
F-15

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
The shares of Class B common stock shall automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the Company’s Initial Business Combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustments pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights described in Note 4.
Holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, except as required by law and except that, prior to the Initial Business Combination, only holders of the Class B common stock will have the right to vote on the election of directors and only a majority of such holders may remove a member of the Company’s board of directors for any reason. Each share of common stock has one vote on all such matters.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company after an Initial Business Combination, the Company’s stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. The Company’s stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that the Company will provide its stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, upon the completion of the Initial Business Combination, subject to the limitations described herein.
Warrants — 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) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination or (b) 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or the Company permits holders to exercise their Public Warrants on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act). The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of the Initial Business Combination, the Company will use its reasonable best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of the Initial Business Combination, and the Company will use its reasonable best efforts to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the Public Warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if the Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a Public Warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless” basis, and, in the event the Company so elects, the Company will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but the Company will be required to use its reasonable best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of the Initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
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 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable in certain redemption scenarios and will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor, Imperial or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the Sponsor, Imperial or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
 
F-16

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
Once the Warrants become exercisable, the Company may call the Public Warrants for redemption:

in whole and not in part;

at a price of  $0.01 per Warrant;

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

if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock on each of 20 trading days within the 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 for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like)).
If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement.
In addition, commencing 90 days after the Warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding Warrants (including both Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants):

in whole and not in part;

at $0.10 per Warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, provided that holders will be able to exercise their Warrants prior to redemption and receive that number of shares of Class A common stock determined by reference to an agreed table to be described in the warrant agreement, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of the Class A common stock except as otherwise described below;

if, and only if, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and

if, and only if, the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), the the Private Placement Warrants are also concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants, as described above.
The exercise price and number of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. In addition, if  (x) the Company issues 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 (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company and, (i) 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, and (ii) without taking into account the transfer of Founder Shares or Private Placement Warrants (including if such transfer is effectuated as a surrender to the Company and subsequent reissuance by the Company) by the Sponsor in connection with such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of the initial Business Combination on the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates its initial Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00
 
F-17

 
OYSTER ENTERPRISES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from October 22, 2020 (inception) through November 16, 2020
per share redemption trigger price described above will be adjusted to the nearest cent, to be equal to the higher of the Newly Issued Price and the Market Value.
In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any warrant. If the Company is unable to complete the Initial 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 respect to such Warrants. Accordingly, the Warrants may expire worthless.
Note 7 — Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to November 24, 2020, the date that the financial statements were available to be issued.
On November 19, 2020, the Company executed an agreement with its Sponsor to borrow an aggregate of $350,000 to cover expenses related to the Proposed Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). The Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of November 30, 2021 or the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. The Note was executed on November 19, 2020. As of November 24, 2020, the Company had not borrowed any amount under the Note.
 
F-18

20,000,000 Units
Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp.
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
           , 2020
Book-Running Manager
Imperial Capital
Until      , 2021 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that buy, sell or trade shares of our common stock, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriter and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.
You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriter has not, authorized anyone to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not, and the underwriter is not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.
No dealer, salesperson or any other person is authorized to give any information or make any representations in connection with this offering other than those contained in this prospectus and, if given or made, the information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by us. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security other than the securities offered by this prospectus, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities by anyone in any jurisdiction in which the offer or solicitation is not authorized or is unlawful.

 
PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
Item 13.
Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.
The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:
SEC expenses
$ 25,093
FINRA expenses
35,000
Accounting fees and expenses
40,000
Printing and engraving expenses
40,000
Directors and officers insurance premiums
150,000
Legal fees and expenses
350,000
Nasdaq listing and filing fees
75,000
Miscellaneous
34,907
Total
$ 750,000
Item 14.
Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that all of our directors, officers, employees and agents shall be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”). Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law concerning indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents is set forth below.
Section 145. Indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents; insurance.
(a)
A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful.
(b)
A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or the court in
 
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which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.
(c)
To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith.
(d)
Any indemnification under subsections (a) and (b) of this section (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because the person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer at the time of such determination, (1) by a majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (2) by a committee of such directors designated by majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, or (4) by the stockholders.
(e)
Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by former officers and directors or other employees and agents may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the corporation deems appropriate.
(f)
The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office. A right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses arising under a provision of the certificate of incorporation or a bylaw shall not be eliminated or impaired by an amendment to such provision after the occurrence of the act or omission that is the subject of the civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification or advancement of expenses is sought, unless the provision in effect at the time of such act or omission explicitly authorizes such elimination or impairment after such action or omission has occurred.
(g)
A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under this section.
(h)
For purposes of this section, references to “the corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the
 
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same position under this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as such person would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued.
(i)
For purposes of this section, references to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this section.
(j)
The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.
(k)
The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all actions for advancement of expenses or indemnification brought under this section or under any by law, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Court of Chancery may summarily determine a corporation’s obligation to advance expenses (including attorneys’ fees).
In connection with this registration statement, we have undertaken that insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to the court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. See Item 17 “Undertakings.”
In accordance with Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, will provide that no director shall be personally liable to us or any of our stockholders for monetary damages resulting from breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such limitation on or exemption from liability is not permitted under the DGCL. The effect of this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is to eliminate our rights and those of our stockholders (through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf) to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of the fiduciary duty of care as a director, including breaches resulting from negligent or grossly negligent behavior, except, as restricted by Section 102(b) (7) of the DGCL. However, this provision does not limit or eliminate our rights or the rights of any stockholder to seek non-monetary relief, such as an injunction or rescission, in the event of a breach of a director’s duty of care.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also provide that we will, to the fullest extent authorized or permitted by applicable law, indemnify our current and former officers and directors, as well as those persons who, while directors or officers of our corporation, are or were serving as directors, officers, employees or agents of another entity, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, in connection with any threatened, pending or completed proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, against all expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, attorney’s fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by any such person in connection with any such proceeding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person eligible for indemnification pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of
 
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incorporation will be indemnified by us in connection with a proceeding initiated by such person only if such proceeding was authorized by our board of directors, except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification.
The right to indemnification which will be conferred by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is a contract right that includes the right to be paid by us the expenses incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any proceeding referenced above in advance of its final disposition, provided, however, that if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by our officer or director (solely in the capacity as an officer or director of our corporation) will be made only upon delivery to us of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such officer or director, to repay all amounts so advanced if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or otherwise.
The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses will not be deemed exclusive of any other rights which any person covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may have or hereafter acquire under law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our bylaws, an agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.
If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the liability of directors, then, in accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the liability of our directors to us or our stockholders will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL, as so amended. Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation affecting indemnification rights, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by applicable law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also permit us, to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law, to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other that those specifically covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Our bylaws include the provisions relating to advancement of expenses and indemnification rights consistent with those which will be set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In addition, our bylaws provide for a right of indemnity to bring a suit in the event a claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses is not paid in full by us within a specified period of time. Our bylaws also permit us to purchase and maintain insurance, at our expense, to protect us and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of our corporation or another entity, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not we would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.
Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our bylaws affecting indemnification rights, whether by our board of directors, stockholders or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by applicable law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing thereunder with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision.
We will enter into indemnification agreements with each of our officers and directors a form of which is filed as an exhibit to this Registration Statement. These agreements will require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to us, and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.
Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement, a form of which is filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this Registration Statement, we have agreed to indemnify the underwriters and the underwriters have agreed to indemnify us against certain civil liabilities that may be incurred in connection with this offering, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.
 
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Item 15.
Recent sales of Unregistered Securities.
On November 16, 2020, Oyster Enterprises LLC purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares, for an aggregate offering price of $25,000 at an average purchase price of approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares of common stock upon completion of this offering. Such securities were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Oyster Enterprises LLC is an accredited investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D.
Oyster Enterprises LLC and Imperial Capital, LLC have committed, pursuant to written agreements, to purchase an aggregate of 5,500,000 warrants (or 6,100,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per warrant in a private placement that will close simultaneously with this offering. Among the private placement warrants, 4,000,000 warrants (or 4,375,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by Oyster Enterprises LLC and 1,500,000 warrants (or 1,725,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by Imperial Capital, LLC. Any such issuances will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.
Item 16.
Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.
(a)
Exhibits.   The following exhibits are being filed herewith:
Exhibit
Description
1.1* Form of Underwriting Agreement
3.1** Certificate of Incorporation
3.2* Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation
3.3* Bylaws
4.1* Specimen Unit Certificate
4.2* Specimen Class A Common Stock Certificate
4.3* Specimen Warrant Certificate (included in Exhibit 4.4)
4.4* Form of Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant
5.1* Opinion of Sidley Austin LLP
10.1** Promissory Note, dated November 19, 2020, issued to Oyster Enterprises LLC
10.2* Form of Letter Agreement among the Registrant and the Registrant’s officers and directors and Oyster Enterprises LLC
10.3* Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant
10.4* Form of Registration Rights Agreement between the Registrant and certain security holders
10.5** Securities Subscription Agreement, dated November 16, 2020 between the Registrant and Oyster Enterprises LLC
10.6* Private Placement Warrants Subscription Agreement, dated                , 2020, between the Registrant and Oyster Enterprises LLC
10.7* Private Placement Warrants Subscription Agreement, dated                , 2020, between the Registrant and Imperial Capital, LLC
 
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Exhibit
Description
10.8* Form of Indemnity Agreement
23.1* Consent of Withum Smith+Brown, PC
23.2* Consent of Sidley Austin LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1)
24*  Power of Attorney (included on signature page of this Registration Statement)
*
To be filed by amendment
**
Filed herewith
(b)
Financial Statements.   See page F-1 for an index to the financial statements and schedules included in the registration statement.
Item 17.
Undertakings.
(a)
The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.
(b)
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
(c)
The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:
(1)
For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act of 1933 shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.
(2)
For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(3)
For the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser, if the registrant is subject to Rule 430C, each prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) as part of a registration statement relating to an offering, other than registration statements relying on Rule 430B or other than prospectuses filed in reliance on Rule 430A, shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the date it is first used after effectiveness. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such first use, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such date of first use.
 
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(4)
For the purpose of determining liability of a registrant under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of an undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:
(i)
Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;
(ii)
Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by an undersigned registrant;
(iii)
The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and
(iv)
Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.
 
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of New York, State of New York, on the      of           , 2020.
Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp.
By:
   
Name:
Heath B. Freeman
Title:
Chief Executive Officer
POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each of the undersigned constitutes and appoints each of Heath B. Freeman, Joshua P. Kleban and Michael J. Monticciolo, each acting alone, his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for such person and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign this Registration Statement on Form S-1 (including all pre-effective and post-effective amendments and registration statements filed pursuant to Rule 462 under the Securities Act of 1933), and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming that any such attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature
Title
Date
   
Heath B. Freeman
Chief Executive Officer and Vice
Chairman of the Board of Directors
(Principal Executive Officer)
           , 2020
   
Joshua P. Kleban
Chief Financial Officer
(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)
           , 2020
   
Michael J. Monticciolo
Chief Legal Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Secretary and Director
   
Randall D. Smith
Chairman of the Board of Directors
           , 2020
   
Maz Akram
Director
           , 2020
   
Martin R. Wade, III.
Director
           , 2020