UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
For
the fiscal year ended
OR
FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM __________ TO __________
COMMISSION
FILE NUMBER
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code:
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
| Units, each consisting of one share of Class A common stock and one-fifth of one redeemable warrant | IPVA.U | The New York Stock Exchange | ||
| Warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one share of Class A common stock, each at an exercise price of $11.50 per share | IPVA WS | The New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2)
has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to
Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports)
and has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
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. (Check one):
| Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ||
| Emerging growth company |
If
an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying
with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness
of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered
public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes
The
aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, computed as of June 30, 2021 (the last business
day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter) was approximately $
As of March 31, 2022, the
Registrant had
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
The statements contained in this report that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. 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 Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Annual Report on Form 10-K” or “Annual Report”) 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 success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
| ● | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements; |
| ● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| ● | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| ● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential investment 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 (as described herein) 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. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. 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” in this Annual Report. 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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Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
| ● | We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
| ● | Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.” |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | Your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash. |
| ● | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote. |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of the Public 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. |
| ● | 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 coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets, as well as protectionist legislation in our target markets. |
| ● | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants. |
| ● | 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 submitting or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed. |
| ● | You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the Trust Account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss. |
| ● | The New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) 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. |
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| ● | You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
| ● | 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 the liquidation of our Trust Account, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
| ● | If the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the Trust Account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the duration of the completion window, 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, its affiliates or our management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination. |
| ● | Past performance by our management team and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company. |
| ● | Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial stockholders will receive additional Class A common stock if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination. |
| ● | We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on stockholders or warrant holders. |
| ● | Our initial business combination and our structure thereafter may not be tax-efficient to our stockholders and warrant holders. As a result of our business combination, our tax obligations may be more complex, burdensome and uncertain. |
| ● | We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest. | |
| ● | Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results. | |
| ● | We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021. If we are unable to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results. | |
| ● | We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. |
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PART I
References in this report to “we,” “us” or the “Company” refer to InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, and references to the “Sponsor” refer to InterPrivate Acquisition Management II, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. References to our “initial stockholders” refer to the Sponsor and certain individuals that own shares of Class B common stock.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS.
Introduction
We are a Delaware blank check company incorporated on September 10, 2020 formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more target businesses. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region. We do not have any specific business combination under consideration, and we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf), directly or indirectly, contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to such a transaction.
On March 9, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering (the “Public Offering”) of 25,875,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A common stock included in the Units being offered, the “public shares”), including the issuance of 3,375,000 Units as a result of the underwriters’ exercise of their over-allotment option in full. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-fifth of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. The Units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds, before expenses, of $258,750,000. Prior to the consummation of the Public Offering, on January 13, 2021, the Sponsor purchased 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock (the “founder shares”) par value $0.0001 per share in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or $0.004 per share. On February 4, 2021, our Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of Jeffrey Harris, Susan L. Decker and Tracey Brophy Warson, our independent directors, resulting in our Sponsor holding 5,660,000 founder shares. On March 4, 2021, we effected a 1:1.125 stock split of our Class B common stock, resulting in our initial stockholders holding an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the Company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of the Public Offering would be a maximum of 25,875,000 Units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the Public Offering. The underwriters exercised the over-allotment in full simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering, thus no shares were forfeited. On November 22, 2021, Susan L. Decker resigned from the board of directors, Matthew Luckett was appointed to the board of directors and the Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to Mr. Luckett.
Simultaneously with the consummation of the Public Offering, we consummated the private placement of an aggregate of 4,616,667 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, to the Sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. (“EarlyBirdCapital”) at a price of $1.50 per warrant, generating gross proceeds, before expenses, of approximately $6,925,000. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants included in the Units sold in the Public Offering, except that, so long as they are held by their initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by the Company, (ii) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the Company completes its initial business combination and (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis.
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Upon the closing of the Public Offering and the private placement, $258,750,000 was placed in a trust account with Continental Stock Transfer& Trust Company acting as trustee (the “Trust Account”). Except for the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Charter”) provides that none of the funds held in trust will be released from the Trust Account until the earlier of (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any of the shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the Units sold in our Public Offering (“public shares”) properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Charter to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of the public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination by March 9, 2023 or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) the redemption of 100% of the public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination by March 9, 2023. The proceeds held in the Trust Account may only be invested in direct United States government treasury obligations within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.
After the payment of underwriting discounts and commissions (excluding the deferred portion of $9,056,250 in underwriting discounts and commissions, which amount will be payable upon consummation of our initial business combination if consummated) and approximately $1,000,000 in expenses relating to the Public Offering, approximately $750,000 of the net proceeds of the Public Offering and private placement was not deposited into the Trust Account and was retained by us for working capital purposes. The net proceeds deposited into the Trust Account remain on deposit in the Trust Account earning interest. As of December 31, 2021, there was $258,750,000 in investments and cash held in the Trust Account and approximately $120,785 of cash held outside the Trust Account available for working capital purposes.
On March 31, 2022, the Company entered into a convertible promissory note with the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $1,500,000 (the “Convertible Promissory Note”). The Convertible Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and due on the earlier of March 9, 2023 and the date on which the Company consummates its initial business combination. If we complete a business combination, we would repay such additional loaned amounts, without interest, upon consummation of the business combination. In the event that a business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such additional loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such additional loans (if any) may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the Sponsor. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such additional loans (if any) have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. If we fully draw down on the Convertible Promissory Note and require additional funds for working capital purposes, the Sponsor, an affiliate of the Sponsor, or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us such additional funds as may be required. The issuance of the Convertible Promissory Note was approved by our board of directors and our audit committee on March 31, 2022. As of March 31, 2022, there was $197,518 outstanding under the Convertible Promissory Note.
Our Sponsor is controlled by affiliates of Ahmed Fattouh, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and InterPrivate, a private investment firm founded by Mr. Fattouh that invests primarily in partnership with family offices and independent private equity and venture capital sponsors who have accumulated substantial industry expertise and decades of experience from leading private equity firms. We believe the expertise and experience of our management team in structuring complex transactions and accessing capital for growth for companies, combined with our unique access to InterPrivate’s extensive network of relationships, will make us a partner of choice for potential business combination targets. We intend to focus our efforts on evaluating business combination targets by leveraging InterPrivate’s network of independent sponsors, family offices, venture capital firms, and private equity firms.
We believe our relationship with InterPrivate will enable us to access a differentiated pipeline of business combination targets for us to evaluate. Specifically, we will seek to leverage the following relationships within InterPrivate’s network for our sourcing efforts:
| ● | Family Offices and Ultra High Net Worth Investors. InterPrivate maintains strong relationships with family offices and ultra high net worth investors with substantial direct private holdings and large investment mandates. InterPrivate frequently invites select family offices and ultra high net worth investors to review its potential investment opportunities on a joint basis, which has enabled InterPrivate to identify overlapping investment preferences with such family offices and investors and has led to co-investment opportunities in private transactions. In addition, some of these family offices are investors in fund vehicles that are managed by affiliates of InterPrivate Capital, and family offices have also invested in the sponsor entity of SPACs sponsored such affiliates of InterPrivate Capital. InterPrivate believes its network brings significant opportunity for a potential pipeline of referrals of privately owned businesses that are not well covered by the traditional investment banking community and may be considering strategic alternatives. |
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| ● | Independent Sponsors. Over the past three to five years, the private equity industry has experienced a significant evolution involving the emergence of a group of over 1,000 independent sponsors who have left some of the most prominent firms to pursue transactions outside of a committed fund construct. InterPrivate has established a network comprised of these veteran dealmakers, who bring decades of sector specific expertise, relationships and execution skills, and present investment opportunities to InterPrivate. |
| ● | InterPrivate’s Network of Executives. Over the years InterPrivate’s principals have collaborated with and backed a number of successful executives. These industry veterans will provide us with deep domain expertise and extensive relationship networks from which we intend to source and evaluate targets and develop post-acquisition operating strategies. |
| ● | Private Equity Sponsors. In addition to management’s own experience and that of its network of independent sponsors, our team has strong relationships with a large number of traditional private equity firms as a result of our historical management of private equity fund of funds vehicles, as well as funds in which our family office clients had invested. We believe these relationships will be significant as we evaluate private equity owned companies seeking exits as potential business combination targets. |
| ● | Venture Capital & Growth Capital Firms. Certain members of our team have substantial relationships with venture capital and growth capital firms, whose portfolio companies include high growth technology companies that may represent potential business combination targets. In addition, a large and growing portion of the independent sponsor community are focused on pre-IPO growth investments, which could be suitable targets. |
| ● | InterPrivate Advisory Committee. InterPrivate’s advisory committee includes veteran private equity professionals and industry executives who will provide us with deep domain expertise and extensive relationship networks from which we intend to source and evaluate targets and develop post-acquisition operating strategies. |
We believe that the combination of independent sponsors, family offices, private equity and venture capital firms will provide us with substantial and differentiated access to potential business combination targets.
We intend to focus our search for an initial business combination on private companies that have positive operating cash flow or compelling unit economics and clear paths to positive operating cash flow, significant assets, and successful management teams and are seeking access to the U.S. public capital markets. Other factors may include focusing on target companies with an enterprise value of $1 billion or more, although we will not necessarily be limited to pursuing transactions with companies of this size.
Although we may pursue initial business combination targets in any industry, sectors that we may pursue include auto-tech and mobility, business services, consumer, retail, e-commerce, industrial technology as well as businesses that possess their own differentiated technology. Our selection process is expected to leverage our management team’s and InterPrivate’s broad and deep network of relationships, unique industry expertise and proven deal-sourcing capabilities to provide us with a strong pipeline of potential targets.
While targets may be either independent entities or divisions of larger organizations, we believe there is an opportunity for us to provide value to current owners of targets that fall into three main categories:
| 1. | Private Equity Fund Portfolio Companies. Substantial amounts of capital have been invested by private equity and similar firms. According to Pitchbook Data, Inc., U.S. private equity funds raised more than $1.8 trillion from 2011 through 2020 in more than 3,200 different funds. During the same period, investments have outpaced exits by a factor of 1.8x, resulting in an increase in portfolio companies held by private equity firms. Additionally, private equity funds only averaged 31 IPO exits between 2019-2020 compared to an average of 52 IPO exits between 2011-2018. Therefore, we believe that there will be a considerable number of portfolio companies available for sale from private equity firms in the coming years as they seek liquidity. These funds have an ongoing need for investment realizations, particularly in older vintage portfolios. Additionally, private equity-backed firms may need to divest non-core assets in order to reduce and refinance debt. |
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| 2. | Entities Held by Non-Traditional Investors. Financial institutions, banks, non-bank lenders, hedge funds, or any other investor who does not typically hold and manage operating assets may be anxious to divest their holdings. In the event that those types of investors are experiencing liquidation or other pressures in their core businesses, they may need to divest certain holdings to maximize the return on their portfolios or from their other assets. |
| 3. | Divestiture of Non-Core Assets by Large Conglomerates. Certain multi-unit companies may face the need to rationalize their business by sale or spin-off of operating units due to pressures from lenders, customers, suppliers, or stockholders. |
Business Strategy
We have identified the following criteria that we intend to use in evaluating business transaction opportunities. We expect that no individual criterion will entirely determine a decision to pursue a particular opportunity. Further, any particular business transaction opportunity which we ultimately determine to pursue may not meet one or more of these criteria:
| ● | Operating Stability with Significant Growth Potential. We will generally seek to acquire businesses that have demonstrated operational stability with consistent historical growth in their financial results, and which are expected to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. We may pursue businesses with owners who would be interested in a reverse merger, which is a combination effected via an exchange of equity, that could leave most or all our existing cash available as capital to support growth efforts. |
| ● | Unrealized Potential for Stockholder Value Creation. We will seek target businesses that are both initially attractive investment candidates and that possess the potential for ongoing stockholder value creation in the long term. Examples of post-acquisition value creating activities include operational improvements in sales and marketing, increasing operating efficiency and reducing costs. Other examples include value created through add-on acquisitions or divestitures, or by lowering the cost of capital by opening up new sources of debt or equity financing. |
| ● | High growth, recurring revenue with easily understood drivers of organic growth. We will seek a business that is able to grow rapidly without sacrificing profitability. We will seek a company that can employ technology to operate at a lower cost while providing a higher quality product. |
| ● | Has a Committed and Capable Management Team. We will seek to acquire a business with a professional management team whose interests are aligned with those of our investors. Where necessary, we may also look to complement and enhance the capabilities of the target business’s management team by recruiting additional talent through our network of contacts. |
| ● | Has the Potential to Grow Through Further Acquisition Opportunities. We will seek to acquire a business that has the potential to grow inorganically through additional acquisitions. |
These criteria and guidelines 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 team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
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Competitive Strengths
We believe the reputations and experience of our management team and our ability to leverage InterPrivate’s sourcing, valuation, diligence and execution capabilities will provide us with a significant pipeline of opportunities from which to evaluate and select a business that will benefit from our expertise. Our competitive strengths include the following:
| ● | Proprietary Sourcing Channels and Deep Industry Relationships. We believe our management team’s and board’s network in addition to InterPrivate’s network of relationships with independent sponsors, family offices, CEOs, founders, family-owned businesses, private equity and venture capital firms will provide us with a differentiated pipeline of acquisition opportunities that would be difficult for other participants in the market to replicate. |
| ● | Transaction and Execution Experience. Our team has decades of experience in venture capital and private equity investing and in sourcing and executing complex M&A transactions with private and public companies. Our team has a long professional relationship working with one another to develop creative solutions for complex M&A situations. Importantly the team has extensive experience shepherding targets through the SPAC/de-SPAC process. |
| ● | Access to Our Capabilities Post-Initial Business Combination. We believe that potential sellers will be interested in a relationship with InterPrivate and look favorably upon our involvement in a transaction, including as a significant investor after an initial business combination. Potential sellers may also seek to engage with us to focus on value creation and to potentially facilitate access to capital markets for further growth and provide advice on and assist in execution of: (i) corporate strategy; (ii) acquisitions (such as roll-up strategies); and (iii) strategic alliances. |
| ● | Alternative Path to Becoming Public. We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to prospective target businesses that desire to become publicly listed companies. A merger with us will offer a target business an alternative process to a public listing rather than the traditional initial public offering process. We believe that target businesses may favor this alternative as it offers greater certainty of execution than the traditional initial public offering. Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is approved by our stockholders and the transaction is consummated, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions that could prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would have greater access to capital and additional means of creating management incentives that are better aligned with stockholders’ interests than it would as a private company. A public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented management. With public company corporate governance standards, a target business may become attractive to public investors. |
| ● | Strong and Stable Financial Position with Flexibility. We offer a target business a variety of options such as providing the owners of a target business with shares in a public company and a public means to sell such shares, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt. Because we are able to consummate 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, since we have no specific business combination under consideration, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing, and there can be no assurance that it will be available to us. |
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Management Team
We will seek to capitalize on the extensive networks and significant digital infrastructure, transaction, investment and operating experience of Ahmed Fattouh, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brian Q. Pham, an Executive Vice President, Alan Pinto, an Executive Vice President, and our board of directors to source, evaluate and acquire a business.
Mr. Fattouh, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has over 25 years of experience in private equity investing and sourcing and executing complex mergers and acquisitions transactions. Mr. Fattouh is the founder of InterPrivate LLC, an investment firm founded in 2017 that pursues private investment opportunities in partnership with leading family offices and private equity firms. Mr. Fattouh’s blank check company experience includes serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of InterPrivate Acquisition Corp., which closed a business combination with Aeva Inc. in March 2021, and senior advisor to Tuscan Holdings Corp., which closed a business combination with Microvast Inc. in July 2021. Mr. Fattouh is a former member of the private equity group at Investcorp International and of the mergers and acquisitions department of Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York. He has participated in notable transactions involving private and public industry leaders including RJR Nabisco, Mobil Corporation, Ampolex, IBM, Elf Atochem, Tivoli Systems, Eagle Industries, Amerace, Washington Energy, Puget Power, Synergy Gas, KKR, Saks Fifth Avenue, Werner Ladder, Falcon Building Products, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Bliss, Eastern Software, Sumo Logic, and Fidelity National Information Systems.
Mr. Pham, an Executive Vice President, has been an investor, advisor, and builder of technology companies throughout his career. Mr. Pham’s blank check company experience includes serving as Senior Vice President of InterPrivate Acquisition Corp. and advisor to Tuscan Holdings Corp. Mr. Pham has been an independent investor and C-level advisor to technology companies since 2017. He was previously a Principal at Sherpa Capital, a San Francisco based venture capital firm. Mr. Pham was on the founding team, was the first investor to join the founders, and helped build the organization from the ground to approximately $700 million in assets under management. Select investments led or co-led by Mr. Pham include Pillpack, Slack, Uber, Airbnb, Curology, Opendoor, and Cue. Prior to Sherpa Capital, Mr. Pham was a member of the Morgan Stanley technology investment banking team based in Menlo Park, where he focused on the equity markets for high growth technology companies and helped clients raise $22.0 billion through initial public offerings, follow-on equity offerings, and convertible debt offerings. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Mr. Pham was a biotech entrepreneur and helped lead efforts to build companies based off of IP developed at the UCLA Department of Bioengineering.
Mr. Pinto, an Executive Vice President, has over 25 years of experience in the finance industry. Mr. Pinto’s blank check company experience includes serving as Senior Vice President of InterPrivate Acquisition Corp. and advisor to Tuscan Holdings Corp. Mr. Pinto has advised corporate clients on capital raising and M&A across a wide spectrum of industries, including auto retail, real estate, transportation infrastructure, oil and gas and technology. He previously was a Managing Director of Dahlman Rose & Co where he focused on the shipping industry and all related energy and commodity markets. Mr. Pinto has established a long roster of sophisticated institutional clients and brings extensive capital markets experience.
Messrs. Fattouh, Pham and Pinto and InterPrivate founded InterPrivate Acquisition Corp. (“IPV I”) (NYSE: IPV), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. IPV I completed its initial public offering in February 2020, in which it sold 21,000,000 units at $10.00 per unit, with each unit comprised of one share of common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant to purchase one share of common stock, generating gross proceeds of $210,000,000. In November 2020, IPV I announced its proposed business combination with Aeva Inc. (“Aeva”), a provider of comprehensive perception solutions for automated driving applications, for aggregate consideration of approximately $1.8 billion. Aeva is a perception solutions company providing 4D LiDAR on a chip. The IPV I team assisted in raising a total of $320 million in PIPE capital for Aeva in connection with the proposed business combination. IPV I’s business combination transaction with Aeva closed in March 2021.
Additionally, InterPrivate Capital LLC (“InterPrivate Capital”), an affiliate of our Sponsor, led by Messrs. Fattouh, Pham and Pinto, served as an advisor to Tuscan Holdings Corp. (“Tuscan I”) (Nasdaq: THCB) in connection with Tuscan I’s business combination transaction with electric vehicle battery maker Microvast Inc. (“Microvast”), which closed in July 2021. Microvast is a leader in next-generation battery technologies for commercial and specialty use electric vehicles. InterPrivate also participated in arranging a bridge and PIPE financing as part of the transaction.
In addition, members of our team have collaborated with co-sponsors, board members and operating partners from top-tier firms, including a former chairman of Blackstone Canada, a former CEO of Nielsen BuzzMetrics, a former CEO of Lucent Technologies, a former CFO of Barracuda Networks, as well as former partners from the Carlyle Group, Warburg Pincus, Norwest, Kleiner Perkins, Midlothian Capital Partners, Boston Consulting Group, Goldman Sachs, Fiduciary Network, and Pine Brook.
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Together, we believe our management team possesses exceptional expertise that will enhance our ability to identify and execute our initial business combination and enhance our ability to execute upon various value creation initiatives after successful completion of our initial business combination.
The past performance of our management team or their respective affiliates, including InterPrivate, is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. An investment in us is not an investment in any of the companies affiliated with members of our management team. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team’s or their respective affiliates’ performance as indicative of our future performance. For more information on the experience and background of our management team, see Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Initial Business Combination
In accordance with the NYSE listing rules, 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 assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the taxes payable on the interest earned on the Trust Account) at the time of signing the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. We refer to this as the 80% of net assets test. 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 judgement. Accordingly, investors will be relying on the business judgment of the board of directors in evaluating the fair market value of the target or targets. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed transaction will provide public stockholders with our analysis of our satisfaction of the 80% of net assets 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 that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) or an independent valuation or appraisal firm with respect to satisfaction of such criteria. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, or if we are considering an initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria from an independent investment bank or an independent valuation or accounting firm. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination.
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, in order to meet certain objectives of the prior owners of the target business, 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 a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets 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.
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Other Considerations
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA, or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, stating that the consideration to be paid by us in such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Each of our directors and officers, directly or indirectly, own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following the Public 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 officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the 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. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, our Sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. As a result, our Sponsor, officers and directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other special purpose acquisition company with which they may become involved. In particular, certain of our officers and directors are actively engaged in InterPrivate III Financial Partners Inc. (“IPV III”) (NYSE: IPVF) and InterPrivate IV InfraTech Partners Inc. (“IPV IV”) (Nasdaq: IPVI), special purpose acquisition companies that have consummated their respective initial public offerings. IPV III and IPV IV, like us, may pursue initial business combination targets in any business or industry and are expected to have similar windows as us in which they may complete their respective initial business combinations. Any such companies, businesses or investments, including IPV III and IPV IV, may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. Additionally, Ahmed Fattouh, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Brandon Bentley, our General Counsel, are members of InterPrivate LLC, which is the managing member of InterPrivate Capital LLC, which in turn is the sole managing member of our Sponsor. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or to complete our initial business combination.
We have filed a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). As a result, we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
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Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $249,693,750 (assuming no redemptions), after payment of $9,056,250 of fees payable to Morgan Stanley and EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. pursuant to the business combination marketing agreement, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our 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.
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 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. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
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Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other 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 the NYSE’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
| ● | we issue shares of common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our 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 NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired and if the number of shares of common stock to be issued, or if the number of shares of common stock into which the securities may be convertible or exercisable, exceeds either (a) 1% of the number of shares of common stock or 1% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any of our directors and officers or (b) 5% of the number of shares of common stock or 5% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any substantial security holders; or |
| ● | the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
Permitted Purchases of Our Securities
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their respective affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their respective affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the NYSE 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. None of the funds in the Trust Account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants 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.
In the event that our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their respective affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
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The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. 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 Class A common stock or public 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.
Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and/or their respective affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our initial stockholders, officers, directors or 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 (in the case of Class A common stock) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our Sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or 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 of the Trust Account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such stockholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the stockholder meeting related to our initial business combination. Our Sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase shares from based on a negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws. Our Sponsor, officers, directors and/or their respective affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. We expect any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchases are subject to such reporting requirements.
Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. 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 public shares they may hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares in connection with such initial business combination, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of the Public Offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
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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 initial business combination or (ii) without a stockholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under 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. So long as we maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with the NYSE’s stockholder approval rules.
The requirement that we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above is contained in provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on the NYSE. Such provisions may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon.
If we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a stockholder meeting, 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 initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count towards this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares they hold and any public shares purchased after the Public Offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares and the representative shares, we would need 9,603,126, or 37.1% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted), of the 25,875,000 public shares sold in the Public Offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted). 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 or whether they were a stockholder on the record date for the stockholder meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.
If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will:
| ● | 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. |
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In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our Sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
We intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the date on which the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination is to be held. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, 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. 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 initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public stockholders who elected to redeem their shares.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares in connection with such initial business combination, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of the Public Offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Stockholder Approval
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares, without our prior consent. 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 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 the Public Offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our Sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in the Public Offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with 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.
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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.
Delivering Stock Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption Rights
As described above, we intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the date on which the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination is to be held. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have up to two business days prior to the vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. 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 process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the broker submitting or tendering shares a fee of approximately $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 submit or 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.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the Trust Account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed initial business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete an initial business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering.
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Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we have only 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 24-month period from the closing of the Public Offering or during any Extension Period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month time period or during any Extension Period.
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 they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering or during any Extension Period. However, if our initial stockholders or management team acquire public shares after the Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24-month time period.
Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter 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 allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $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.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of the Public 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 approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the Trust Account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
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Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of our public stockholders, 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 consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. The underwriters of the Public Offering and our independent registered public accounting firm have not executed agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason. 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 for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. 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.
In the event that the proceeds in the Trust Account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our Sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per share.
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 underwriters of the Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We have access to up to approximately $750,000 from the proceeds of the Public Offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation). 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.
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Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public 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 the Public Offering, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 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 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations are limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account. As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the Trust Account is remote. Further, our Sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the Trust Account are not reduced below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest withdrawn to pay taxes and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the Trust Account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, 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.
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Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the Trust Account only (i) 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 the Public Offering, (ii) 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 allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of our initial business combination. Public stockholders who redeem their shares of our Class A common stock in connection with a stockholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the Trust Account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering, with respect to such shares of our Class A common stock so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the Trust Account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the 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. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other special purpose acquisition 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.
Employees
We currently have five executive officers: Ahmed Fattouh, Brian Q. Pham, Alan Pinto, Brandon Bentley and James Pipe. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
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Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
Our Units, Class A common stock and warrants are registered under the Exchange Act and we have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports 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 proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target 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 business combination.
We have filed a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of the Public 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 shares of Class A common stock that are 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.
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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the prospectus associated with our Public Offering, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
RISKS RELATING TO OUR SEARCH FOR, AND CONSUMMATION
OF OR INABILITY TO
CONSUMMATE, A BUSINESS COMBINATION
Our 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 choose not to hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination if the business combination would not require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange requirement, 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 complete our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders do not approve of the business combination we complete.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
Our initial stockholders own 20% of our outstanding common stock immediately following the completion of the Public Offering. Our initial stockholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A common stock prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, if we seek stockholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares voted at such meeting, including the founder shares and the representative shares. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares and the representative shares, we would need 9,603,126, or 37.1% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted), of the 25,875,000 public shares sold in the Public Offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted). Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial stockholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval for such initial business combination.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding our initial 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.
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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 minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or make us unable to satisfy a minimum cash condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our 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 issues of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the shares of Class B common stock at the time of our 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 shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account until we liquidate the Trust Account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the Trust Account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
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 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 China and other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (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 outbreak has and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 continues to 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. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
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In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, more effort and more resources to identify a suitable target and to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of the Public 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 the Public Offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of the Public 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.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of the Public Offering. 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.
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For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak 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: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors and their respective affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” 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 initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their respective affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their respective affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the NYSE rules. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the Trust Account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights.
In the event that our initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their respective affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. We expect 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.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain 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 proxy rules or tender offer 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 proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, 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 submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the date on which the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination is to be held. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included.
In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of the Public 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 selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the completion of the Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and filed a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our Units are 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 the Public Offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the Trust Account to us unless and until the funds in the Trust Account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% 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. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
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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 their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter 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 similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a stockholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If the net proceeds of the Public Offering not being held in the Trust Account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing of the Public Offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our Sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of the Public Offering, only $750,000 will be available to us initially outside the Trust Account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that, upon the closing of the Public Offering, the funds available to us outside of the Trust Account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following such closing; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent 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.
On March 31, 2022, the Company entered into Convertible Promissory Note with the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $1,500,000. The Convertible Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and due on the earlier of March 9, 2023 and the date on which the Company consummates its initial business combination. If we complete a business combination, we would repay such additional loaned amounts, without interest, upon consummation of the business combination. In the event that a business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such additional loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such additional loans (if any) may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the Sponsor. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such additional loans (if any) have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. If we fully draw down on the Convertible Promissory Note and require additional funds for working capital purposes, the Sponsor, an affiliate of the Sponsor, or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us such additional funds as may be required. The issuance of the Convertible Promissory Note was approved by our board of directors and our audit committee on March 31, 2022. As of March 31, 2022, there was $197,518 outstanding under the Convertible Promissory Note.
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In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, 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 $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the Trust Account would increase by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the Trust Account will not be impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our Sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our Sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their respective affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the Trust Account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our Trust Account. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per public share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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 public 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 (except for our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the Trust Account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the Trust Account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. The underwriters of the Public Offering as well as our registered independent public accounting firm have not executed agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, 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 public share initially held in the Trust Account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement on Form S-1, our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. 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.
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Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our Sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the Trust Account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, 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 and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, by paying public stockholders from the Trust Account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the Trust Account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
Our private placement warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our private placement warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
On April 12, 2021, the Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and Acting Chief Accountant of the SEC together issued a statement regarding the accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”)” (the “SEC Statement”). Specifically, the SEC Statement focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination, which terms are similar to those contained in the warrant agreement governing our warrants. As a result of the SEC Statement, we reevaluated the accounting treatment of our 5,175,000 public warrants and 4,616,667 private placement warrants, and determined to classify the private placement warrants as derivative liabilities measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings.
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As a result, included on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 contained elsewhere in this Annual Report are derivative liabilities related to our warrants. Accounting Standards Codification 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”), provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting non-cash gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being recognized in earnings in the statement of operations. As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly, based on factors, which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses on our warrants each reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of common stock. In addition, potential targets may seek a special purpose acquisition company that does not have warrants that are accounted for as liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
| ● | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
| ● | restrictions on the issuance of securities, |
each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
| ● | registration as an investment company with the SEC; |
| ● | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
| ● | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are 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 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. The Public 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 either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering; and (iii) absent an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, 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 complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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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 are 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.
If we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering, our public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond such 24 months before redemption from our Trust Account.
If we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of the interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public stockholders from the Trust Account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind-up, liquidate the Trust Account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public stockholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the DGCL. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering before the redemption proceeds of our Trust Account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our Trust Account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our liquidation unless we complete our initial business combination or amend certain material provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A common stock. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public stockholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination.
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 the Public 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 the Public Offering in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
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Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be 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 the Public Offering is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our stockholders to elect directors.
In accordance with the NYSE’s corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. 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.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected 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.
Our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business or businesses that can benefit from our management team’s established global relationships and operating experience. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing strategic investments globally and has done so successfully in a number of sectors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prohibits us from effectuating a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected 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 stockholders or warrant holders 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 unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
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We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our Units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in the Public Offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination 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 Annual Report on Form 10-K 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 ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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 attributes consistent with our general criteria and guidelines. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that 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 law, 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 only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal 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 or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
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We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or shares of 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 founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 380,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after the Public Offering, there will be 353,725,000 and 13,531,250 authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B common stock. The Class B common stock is automatically convertible into Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Immediately after the Public 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 or shares of 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 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 as set forth therein. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the Trust Account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote. The issuance of additional shares of common stock or shares of preferred stock:
| ● | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in the Public Offering; |
| ● | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A common stock; |
| ● | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of Class A common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
| ● | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Units, Class A common stock and/or warrants. |
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial stockholders will receive additional shares of Class A common stock if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation 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 connection with our initial business combination, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of shares of Class A common stock by public stockholders), including the total number of shares of Class A common stock issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities or rights exercisable for or convertible into shares of Class A common stock issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our Sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans, provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. This is different than some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies in which the initial stockholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to our initial business combination.
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Resources could be wasted in researching 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 only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our Sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. 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, 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 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 which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders, 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.
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Since our Sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire after the Public Offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On January 13, 2021 our Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration of 5,750,000 founder shares. On February 4, 2021, our Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of Jeffrey Harris, Susan L. Decker and Tracey Brophy Warson, our independent directors, resulting in our Sponsor holding 5,660,000 founder shares. On March 4, 2021, we effected a 1:1.125 stock split of our Class B common stock, resulting in our initial stockholders holding an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of the Public Offering would be a maximum of 25,875,000 Units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the Public Offering. The underwriters exercised the over-allotment in full simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering, thus no shares were forfeited. On November 22, 2021, Susan L. Decker resigned from the board of directors, Matthew Luckett was appointed to the board of directors and the Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to Mr. Luckett. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 3,850,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable for one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $5,775,000, or $1.50 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 24-month anniversary of the closing of the Public Offering nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following the Public Offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers 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 is outstanding; |
| ● | our inability to pay dividends on our Class A 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 Class A common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
| ● | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
| ● | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
| ● | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
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We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of the Public 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 negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from the Public Offering and the private placement of warrants provided us with $249,693,750 that we may use to complete our initial business combination and pay related fees and expenses (after taking into account the $9,056,250, of fees payable to Morgan Stanley and EarlyBirdCapital pursuant to the business combination marketing agreement).
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 developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
| ● | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, 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 business combination 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.
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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 or warrant holders do not agree.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. 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 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 in connection with such initial business combination, all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other 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 in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our stockholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and 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. Amending our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants 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. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require us to provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months of the closing of the Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected 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.
The 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 65% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of the Public 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) 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 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 DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of the Public Offering, may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a 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.
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Our Sponsor, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to written agreements 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 allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. 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, executive 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.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
We have not selected any specific business combination target but intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. 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 any redemption by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Our initial stockholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon closing of the Public Offering, our initial stockholders own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If our initial stockholders purchase any additional Class A common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. 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 Annual Report. 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, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our Sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial stockholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
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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 the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial business combination include historical and 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 statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an 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, 2022. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. 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 business combination.
We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the initial business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our initial business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
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RISKS RELATING TO THE POST-BUSINESS COMBINATION COMPANY
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders following the 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 unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss 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.
Our management may not maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to 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 the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A 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 Class A common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A 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 shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not maintain control of the target business.
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We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’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 stockholders or warrant holders following the 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 unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
RISKS RELATING TO ACQUIRING AND OPERATING A BUSINESS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
If we pursue a target 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 initial business 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 we pursue a target 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; |
| ● | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| ● | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
| ● | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| ● | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
| ● | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| ● | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| ● | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
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| ● | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
| ● | challenges in managing and staffing international operations; |
| ● | longer payment cycles; |
| ● | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
| ● | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| ● | rates of inflation; |
| ● | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| ● | cultural and language differences; |
| ● | employment regulations; |
| ● | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
| ● | corruption; |
| ● | protection of intellectual property; |
| ● | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
| ● | regime changes and political upheaval; |
| ● | natural disasters and widespread health emergencies; |
| ● | terrorist attacks and wars; and |
| ● | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
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, financial condition and results of operations.
RISKS RELATING TO OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM
We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. 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. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Involvement of members of our management and companies with which they are affiliated in civil disputes and litigation or governmental investigations unrelated to our business affairs could materially impact our ability to complete an initial business combination.
Members of our management team and companies with which they are affiliated have been, and in the future will continue to be, involved in a wide variety of business affairs, including transactions, such as sales and purchases of businesses, and ongoing operations. As a result of such involvement, members of our management and companies with which they are affiliated in past have been, and may in the future be, involved in civil disputes and litigation and governmental investigations relating to their business affairs unrelated to our company. Any claims or investigations involving members of our management and companies with which they are affiliated may be detrimental to our reputation and could negatively affect our ability to identify and complete an initial business combination in a material manner and may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
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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, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
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 provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with 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, subject to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law.
Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers and non-independent directors are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of the Public 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. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the 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. In addition, our Sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. As a result, our Sponsor, officers and directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other special purpose acquisition company with which they may become involved. In particular, certain of our officers and directors are actively engaged in IPV III and IPV IV), special purpose acquisition companies. IPV III and IPV IV, like us, may pursue initial business combination targets in any business or industry and are expected to have similar windows as us in which they may complete their respective initial business combinations. Any such companies, businesses or ventures, including IPV III and IPV IV, may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. Additionally, Ahmed Fattouh, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Brandon Bentley, our General Counsel, are members of InterPrivate LLC, which is the managing member of InterPrivate Capital LLC, which in turn is the sole managing member of our Sponsor. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our Sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Delaware law and we or our stockholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our stockholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers.
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 any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the Trust Account and to not seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason whatsoever. 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.
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Certain agreements related to the Public Offering may be amended without stockholder approval.
Each of the agreements related to the Public Offering to which we are a party, other than the warrant agreement and the investment management trust agreement, may be amended without stockholder approval. Such agreements are: the underwriting agreement; the letter agreement among us and our initial stockholders, officers and directors; the registration rights agreement among us and our initial stockholders; the private placement warrants purchase agreement between us and our Sponsor; and the administrative services agreement among us, our Sponsor and an affiliate of our Sponsor. These agreements contain various provisions that our public stockholders might deem to be material. For example, our letter agreement and the underwriting agreement contain certain lock-up provisions with respect to the founder shares, private placement warrants and other securities held by our initial stockholders, officers and directors. Amendments to such agreements would require the consent of the applicable parties thereto and would need to be approved by our board of directors, which may do so for a variety of reasons, including to facilitate our initial business combination. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement. Any amendment entered into in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to such initial business combination, and any other material amendment to any of our material agreements will be disclosed in a filing with the SEC. 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. For example, amendments to the lock-up provision discussed above may result in our initial stockholders selling their securities earlier than they would otherwise be permitted, which may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
RISKS RELATING TO OUR SECURITIES
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the Trust Account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the Trust Account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered 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 allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if our plan to redeem our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering is not completed 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 the Public 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 warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the Trust Account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
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The NYSE 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.
Our Units, Class A common stock and warrants are currently listed on the NYSE. Although we meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum average global market capitalization and a minimum number of holders of our securities. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our global market capitalization would be required to be at least $150 million, the aggregate market value of our publicly-held shares would be required to be at least $40 million and we would be required to have a minimum of 400 round lot holders and 1,100,000 publicly held shares.
If the NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
| ● | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| ● | 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 our Units, Class A common stock and warrants are listed on the NYSE, our Units, Class A common stock and warrants qualify as covered securities under the 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 the NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
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The determination of the offering price of our Units, the size of the Public Offering and terms of the Units was 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 the Public Offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the Units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of the Public Offering, management held customary organizational meetings with the representative of the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of the Public 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 at attractive values; |
| ● | a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions; |
| ● | our capital structure; |
| ● | an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies; |
| ● | general conditions of the securities markets at the time of the Public Offering; and |
| ● | other factors as were deemed relevant. |
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering size, price and terms of the Units was more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
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 shares of Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock, 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.
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We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Our initial business combination and our structure thereafter may not be tax-efficient to our stockholders and warrant holders. As a result of our business combination, our tax obligations may be more complex, burdensome and uncertain.
Although we will attempt to structure our initial business combination in a tax-efficient manner, tax structuring considerations are complex, the relevant facts and law are uncertain and may change, and we may prioritize commercial and other considerations over tax considerations. For example, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to any requisite stockholder approval, we may structure our business combination in a manner that requires stockholders and/or warrant holders to recognize gain or income for tax purposes, effect a business combination with a target company in another jurisdiction, or reincorporate in a different jurisdiction (including, but not limited to, the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located). We do not intend to make any cash distributions to stockholders or warrant holders to pay taxes in connection with our business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, a stockholder or a warrant holder may need to satisfy any liability resulting from our initial business combination with cash from its own funds or by selling all or a portion of the shares received. In addition, stockholders and warrant holders may also be subject to additional income, withholding or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after our initial business combination.
In addition, we may effect a business combination with a target company that has business operations outside of the United States, and possibly, business operations in multiple jurisdictions. If we effect such a business combination, we could be subject to significant income, withholding and other tax obligations in a number of jurisdictions with respect to income, operations and subsidiaries related to those jurisdictions. Due to the complexity of tax obligations and filings in other jurisdictions, we may have a heightened risk related to audits or examinations by U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. taxing authorities. This additional complexity and risk could have an adverse effect on our after-tax profitability and financial condition.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants are issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or to correct any defective provision or mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement, (ii) adjusting the provisions relating to cash dividends on shares of common stock as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement or (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of the public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock (at a ratio different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
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Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement 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.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A common stock 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) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 5,175,000 shares of Class A common stock as part of the Units offered in the Public Offering and, simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 4,616,667 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. In addition, if our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors makes any working capital loans, such lender may convert those loans into up to an additional 1,000,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant. To the extent we issue common stock to effectuate our initial business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock and reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete our initial business combination. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
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Because each Unit contains one-fifth of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the Units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each Unit contains one-fifth of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants were issued upon separation of the Units, and only whole Units trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder. 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 warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-fifth of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one 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 it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and holders of our private placement warrants 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 shares of Class A common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement, our initial stockholders, the holders of our private placement warrants, the holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the shares of Class A common stock into which founder shares are convertible, the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants or the Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and any other securities of the company acquired by them prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the shares of common stock owned by our initial stockholders, holders of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A common stock or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of Units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A common stock included in the Units.
We registered the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 because the warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, which may be within one year of the Public Offering. However, because the warrants will be exercisable until their expiration date of up to five years after the completion of our initial business combination, in order to comply with the requirements of Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act following the consummation of our initial business combination, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement or a new registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.
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If the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
If our shares of Class A common stock are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws.
You may only be able to exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis” under certain circumstances, and if you do so, you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
The warrant agreement provides that in the following circumstances holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do for cash and will, instead, be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act: (i) if the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the terms of the warrant agreement; and (ii) if we have so elected and the shares of Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act. If you exercise your public warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances described in clauses (i) and (ii) in the preceding sentence, you would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the 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” of our shares of Class A common stock (as defined in the next sentence) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” is the average reported closing price of the shares of Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, as applicable. As a result, you would receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
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 the Public Offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants, in the amount of $258,750,000, are held in an interest-bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the Trust Account may only be invested in direct U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in certain money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. government 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 are permitted to use to pay our taxes and up to $100,000 of dissolution expenses) 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses). If the balance of the Trust Account is reduced below $258,750,000 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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GENERAL RISK FACTORS
We are a blank check 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 blank check company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware with no operating results, and we did not commence operations until obtaining funding through the Public 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. 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.
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
As of December 31, 2021, we had cash of $120,785 and a working capital deficit of $770,580. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through the Public Offering are discussed in Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Our plans to raise capital and to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this Annual Report do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate the Public Offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.
Past performance by our management team and their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us or in the future performance of any business that we may acquire.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team or businesses associated with them is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team or the other companies referred to in this Annual Report is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of our management team’s or businesses associated with them as indicative of our future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or is likely to, generate going forward. An investment in us is not an investment in any of the companies associated with our management team.
We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021. If we are unable to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Our management concluded that we identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis.
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Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. We continue to evaluate steps to remediate the material weaknesses. These remediation measures may be time consuming and costly and there is no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.
As a result of the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, accounting for complex financial instruments, and an accrual of NYSE expenses and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we potentially face litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the material weaknesses and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete a business combination.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls 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 Class A common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. 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.
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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 an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in 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 prior June 30th, 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 prior June 30th. 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.
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 requires, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any claim (A) as to which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Additionally, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal courts shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act against us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or agents. Section 22 of the Securities Act, however, created 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. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions, and the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. While the Delaware courts have determined that such exclusive forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions, and there can be no assurance that such provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to these provisions; however, we note that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. 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.
ITEM IB. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.
We currently sub-lease executive offices at 1350 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10019 from our Sponsor and the members of our management team. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
As of December 31, 2021, to the knowledge of our management, there was no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding 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.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.
Not applicable.
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PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
(a) Market Information
Our Units, Class A common stock and warrants are listed on NYSE under the symbols “IPVA.U,” “IPVA” and “IPVA WS”, respectively.
(b) Holders
As of December 31, 2021, there was one holder of record of our Units, two holders of record of our Class A common stock, four holders of record of our Class B common stock and three holders of record of our warrants. The number of holders of record does not include a substantially greater number of “street name” holders or beneficial holders whose Units, Class A common stock and warrants are held of record by banks, brokers and other financial institutions.
(c) Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our Class A common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
(d) Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
(e) Performance Graph
Not required for smaller reporting companies.
(f) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
Unregistered Sales
The sales of the founder shares, the representative shares and private placement warrants to our Sponsor and our initial stockholders as described herein were deemed to be exempt from registration under the Securities Act, in reliance on Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act as transactions by an issuer not involving a public offering. On March 31, 2022, the Company entered into Convertible Promissory Note with the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $1,500,000. The Convertible Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and due on the earlier of March 9, 2023 and the date on which the Company consummates its initial business combination. If we complete a business combination, we would repay such additional loaned amounts, without interest, upon consummation of the business combination. In the event that a business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such additional loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such additional loans (if any) may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the Sponsor. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such additional loans (if any) have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. If we fully draw down on the Convertible Promissory Note and require additional funds for working capital purposes, the Sponsor, an affiliate of the Sponsor, or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us such additional funds as may be required. The issuance of the Convertible Promissory Note was approved by our board of directors and our audit committee on March 31, 2022. As of March 31, 2022, there was $197,518 outstanding under the Convertible Promissory Note.
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Use of Proceeds
On March 9, 2021, we consummated the Public Offering of 25,875,000 Units, including the issuance of 3,375,000 Units as a result of the underwriters’ exercise of their over-allotment option in full, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $258,750,000, and incurring offering costs of $15,231,250, inclusive of $9,056,250 in deferred underwriting commissions.
In connection with the Public Offering, we incurred offering costs of $15,231,250, inclusive of $9,056,250 in deferred underwriting commissions. Other incurred offering costs consisted principally of preparation fees related to the Public Offering. After deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions (excluding the deferred portion, which amount will be payable upon consummation of the initial business combination, if consummated) and the Public Offering expenses, $258,750,000 of the net proceeds from our Public Offering and certain of the proceeds from the private placement of the private placement warrants (or $10.00 per Unit sold in the Public Offering) was placed in the Trust Account. The net proceeds of the Public Offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants are held in the Trust Account and invested as described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
There has been no material change in the planned use of the proceeds from the Public Offering and private placement as is described in the Company’s final prospectus related to the Public Offering.
ITEM 6. [RESERVED].
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
References to “we”, “us”, “our” or the “Company” are to InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp., except where the context requires otherwise. The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and the notes related thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act that are not historical facts and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected and projected. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this Form 10-K including, without limitation, statements in this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding the completion of the Proposed Business Combination (as defined below), the Company’s financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Words such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “seek” and variations and similar words and expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance, but reflect management’s current beliefs, based on information currently available. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including that the conditions of the Proposed Business Combination are not satisfied. For information identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors section of the Company’s final prospectus for its Public Offering filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company’s securities filings can be accessed on the EDGAR section of the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as expressly required by applicable securities law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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Overview
We are a blank check company formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on September 10, 2020 for the purpose of effectuating a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.
We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete a business combination will be successful.
Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities through December 31, 2021 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for the Public Offering, described below, and identifying a target company for a business combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our business combination. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Account. We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net loss of $2,619,935 which consists of operating costs of $2,085,624 and warrant transaction costs of $6,835, a loss on warrant liability of $598,718, interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $104,868 and an unrealized loss on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $33,626.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
On March 9, 2021, we consummated the Public Offering of 25,875,000 Units which includes the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 3,375,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $258,750,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering, we consummated the sale of 4,616,667 private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per private placement warrant in a private placement to the Sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital, generating gross proceeds of $6,925,000.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, cash used in operating activities was $1,126,564. Net loss of $2,619,935 was affected by a non-cash charge related to the change in warrant liability of $598,718, interest earned on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $104,868 and an unrealized loss on marketable securities held in in the Trust Account of $33,626 and offering costs allocable to warrant liabilities of $6,835. Changes in operating assets and liabilities provided $959,060 of cash for operating activities.
As of December 31, 2021, we had marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $258,821,242 (including $104,868 of interest income and unrealized gains consisting of U.S. Treasury Bills with a maturity of 185 days or less. Interest income on the balance in the Trust Account may be used by us to pay taxes. Through December 31, 2021, we have not withdrawn any interest earned from the Trust Account.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account (less income taxes payable), to complete our business combination. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our 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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As of December 31, 2021, we had cash of $120,785. We intend to use the funds held outside the Trust Account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, the Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete a business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that a 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 $1.50 per warrant, at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
We will need to raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from our initial stockholders, officers or directors. If we are unable to raise additional capital, we may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction, and reducing overhead expenses. We cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to us on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern through one year and one day from the issuance of this report.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2021. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than an agreement to pay the Sponsor a monthly fee of $10,000 for office space, administrative and support services. We began incurring these fees on March 4, 2021 and will continue to incur these fees monthly until the earlier of the completion of the business combination and our liquidation.
We have entered into an agreement, pursuant to which we will pay our Vice President a total of $10,000 per month for assisting us in negotiating and consummating an initial business combination. Upon completion of the business combination or the Company’s liquidation, the agreement will terminate and the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.
We have engaged Morgan Stanley and EarlyBirdCapital as advisors in connection with the business combination to assist us in holding meetings with our stockholders to discuss the potential business combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce us to potential investors that are interested in purchasing our securities in connection with the business combination, assist us in obtaining stockholder approval for the business combination and assist us with its press releases and public filings in connection with the business combination. We will pay Morgan Stanley and EarlyBirdCapital a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of a business combination in an amount equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the Public Offering (exclusive of any applicable finders’ fees which might become payable).
We have issued to EarlyBirdCapital, and/or its designees, 200,000 representative shares (the “representative shares”) for nominal consideration. The holders of the representative shares have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any such shares without our prior consent until the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, the holders of the representative shares have agreed (i) to waive their conversion rights (or right to participate in any tender offer) with respect to such shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering.
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The representative shares have been deemed compensation by FINRA and are therefore subject to a lock-up for a period of 180 days immediately following the date of the effectiveness of the Registration Statement on Form S-1 pursuant to Rule 5110(e)(1) of the FINRA Manual. Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(e)(1), these securities will 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 economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the Registration Statement on Form S-1 or commencement of sales of the public offering, except to any underwriter and selected dealer participating in the offering and their bona fide officers or partners, provided that all securities so transferred remain subject to the lockup restriction above for the remainder of the time period.
We have granted the holders of these shares and the private placement warrants registration rights. EarlyBirdCapital may not exercise its demand and “piggy-back” registration rights more than five and seven years, respectively, after the effective date of our Registration Statement on Form S-1 and may not exercise its demand rights on more than one occasion in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8).
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of condensed financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following critical accounting policies:
Warrant Classification
We account for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own shares of common stock and whether the warrant holders could potentially require “net cash settlement” in a circumstance outside of the Company’s control, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding. As of December 31, 2021 and March 9, 2021, the private placement warrants were accounted for as liabilities, and the public warrants were accounted for as temporary equity.
Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. Our Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2021, the entire amount of the Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
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Recent Accounting Standards
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our condensed financial statements.
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
This information appears following Item 16 of this Report and is included herein by reference.
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.
None.
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2021. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective as of December 31, 2021, due to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting related to accounting for complex financial instruments and an adjustment to reflect an accrual as of December 31, 2021 for approximately $153,000 of listing and annual fees that are charged and billed by the NYSE on a deferred basis. Pursuant to NYSE rules and an amendment adopted by the NYSE in the first quarter of 2021, such amounts were deferred and became payable in January 2022 but should have been reflected as an accrual as of December 31, 2021. Notwithstanding these identified material weaknesses as of December 31, 2021, management believes that the financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented in conformity with GAAP.
We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by the rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
In light of the material weaknesses described above, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with GAAP. Management has implemented remediation steps to address the material weaknesses and to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we expanded and improved our review process for complex securities and related accounting standards. We plan to further improve this process by enhancing access to accounting literature, identification of third-party professionals with whom to consult regarding complex accounting applications and consideration of additional staff with the requisite experience and training to supplement existing accounting professionals.
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While we took considerable action to remediate the material weaknesses, such remediation has not been fully evidenced. Accordingly, we continue to test our controls implemented in the fourth quarter to assess whether our controls are operating effectively. While there can be no assurance, we believe our material weaknesses will be remediated during the course of fiscal 2022.
Other than the changes discussed above, there has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION.
On March 31, 2022, the Company entered into Convertible Promissory Note with the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $1,500,000. The Convertible Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and due on the earlier of March 9, 2023 and the date on which the Company consummates its initial business combination. If we complete a business combination, we would repay such additional loaned amounts, without interest, upon consummation of the business combination. In the event that a business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such additional loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such additional loans (if any) may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the Sponsor. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such additional loans (if any) have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. If we fully draw down on the Convertible Promissory Note and require additional funds for working capital purposes, the Sponsor, an affiliate of the Sponsor, or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us such additional funds as may be required. The issuance of the Convertible Promissory Note was approved by our board of directors and our audit committee on March 31, 2022. As of March 31, 2022, there was $197,518 outstanding under the Convertible Promissory Note.
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS
Not applicable
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PART III
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.
Directors and Executive Officers
Our directors and executive officers are as follows:
| Name | Age | Position | ||
| Ahmed Fattouh | 48 | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | ||
| Brian Q. Pham | 34 | Executive Vice President | ||
| Alan Pinto | 50 | Executive Vice President | ||
| Brandon Bentley | 47 | General Counsel and Director | ||
| James Pipe | 32 | Vice President | ||
| Jeffrey Harris | 66 | Director | ||
| Tracey Brophy Warson | 59 | Director | ||
| Matthew Luckett | 50 | Director |
Ahmed Fattouh has served as our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and a board member since our inception. Mr. Fattouh has over 25 years of private equity and M&A experience. Since 2017, he has been a Founder Member and the Chief Executive Officer of InterPrivate LLC, a private investment firm that invests on behalf of a consortium of family offices in partnership with independent sponsors from leading private equity firms with strong relationships with former portfolio companies. Mr. Fattouh’s blank check company experience includes serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of InterPrivate Acquisition Corp., which closed a business combination with Aeva Inc. in March 2021, and senior advisor to Tuscan Holdings Corp., which closed a business combination with Microvast Inc. in July 2021. In 2001, Mr. Fattouh became a Founding Member and the Chief Executive Officer of Landmark Value Investments, an asset management firm. He also served as the Managing Member of Landmark Value Strategies, Landmark Activist Strategies, Landmark Credit Strategies, the Landmark Real Assets Fund, the Landmark Protection Fund, Globalist Value Strategies and the Globalist MENA Fund. Mr. Fattouh is a former member of the private equity group at Investcorp International and the M&A Department of Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York. He has executed transactions involving industry leaders, including RJR Nabisco, Mobil Corporation, Ampolex, IBM, Elf Atochem, Tivoli Systems, Eagle Industries, Amerace, Washington Energy, Puget Power, Synergy Gas, KKR, Saks Fifth Avenue, Werner Ladder, Falcon Building Products, LVMH, Bliss, Eastern Software, Sumo Logic, and Fidelity National. Mr. Fattouh previously served as a director of Columbia Medical Products, the Del Grande Dealer Group, Massmedium, and Collective Sense. Mr. Fattouh received a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.
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Brian Q. Pham has served as an Executive Vice President since our inception. Mr. Pham has been an investor, advisor, and builder of technology companies throughout his career. Mr. Pham’s blank check company experience includes serving as Senior Vice President of InterPrivate Acquisition Corp. and advisor to Tuscan Holdings Corp. Mr. Pham has been an independent investor and C-level advisor to technology companies since 2017. From 2013 to 2016, he was a Principal at Sherpa Capital, a San Francisco based venture capital firm. Mr. Pham was on the founding team, was the first investor to join the founders, and helped build the organization from the ground to approximately $700 million in assets under management. Select investments led or co-led by Mr. Pham include Pillpack, Slack, Uber, Airbnb, Curology, Opendoor, and Cue. He is also an advisor to Maven and Cytovale. From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Pham was a member of the Morgan Stanley technology investment banking team based in Menlo Park. There he focused on the equity markets for high growth technology companies and helped clients raise $22.0 billion through initial public offerings, follow-on equity offerings, and convertible debt offerings. A few representative transactions that his team led include IPOs for Facebook, Workday, and ServiceNow. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Mr. Pham was a biotech entrepreneur and helped lead efforts to build companies based off of IP developed at the UCLA Department of Bioengineering. Mr. Pham received a B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of California Los Angeles.
Alan Pinto has served as an Executive Vice President since our inception. He is a 25-year veteran of the finance industry. Mr. Pinto’s blank check company experience includes serving as Senior Vice President of InterPrivate Acquisition Corp. and advisor to Tuscan Holdings Corp. After establishing himself in institutional Sales and Trading, Mr. Pinto became a founding Managing Director of Dahlman Rose & Co in 2003, a boutique investment bank focused on the shipping industry and all related energy and commodity markets. Having established a long roster of sophisticated institutional clients who had a growing appetite for structured, private deals, Mr. Pinto left Dahlman Rose in 2013 to independently advise corporate clients on capital raising and M&A. In 2014, Mr. Pinto coordinated a $500 million hybrid mezzanine and equity investment from several hedge funds to back a European tanker operator to acquire a $1.0 billion fleet of crude carriers from AP Moeller-Maersk. Since that transaction, Mr. Pinto has advised on deals across a wide spectrum of industries, including auto retail, real estate, transportation infrastructure, oil and gas and technology. Mr. Pinto received a B.A. from Georgetown University.
Brandon C. Bentley has served as our General Counsel and a member of our board of directors since our inception. Mr. Bentley is a founder of InterPrivate and has been Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel since 2017. Mr. Bentley’s blank check company experience includes serving as General Counsel and board member of InterPrivate Acquisition Corp. From 2005 to 2014, Mr. Bentley was the General Counsel, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Landmark Value Investments. Mr. Bentley also served as General Counsel of the firm’s registered broker-dealer affiliate from 2011 to 2013. Prior to InterPrivate, Mr. Bentley served as the General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer of Castellan Real Estate Partners, a real estate private equity firm based in New York, from 2014 to 2016 and worked for e.ventures Europe in a senior finance and operations capacity. Mr. Bentley previously worked as an attorney at White & Case LLP in New York from 1999 to 2005, where he focused on securities transactions and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Bentley received a B.A. from Wake Forest University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. We believe Mr. Bentley is qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his legal and investment expertise.
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James Pipe has served as a Vice President since December 2020 and currently serves as InterPrivate’s Director of Finance and Operations. From 2018 to 2020, Mr. Pipe served as a member of the finance team at Google Ventures, the venture capital arm of Alphabet Inc., where his responsibilities included managing the monthly financial statement preparation process for the firm, acting as the primary liaison between Google Ventures and the Alphabet corporate accounting team, and managing the firm’s relationships with external service providers. From 2014 to 2018, Mr. Pipe was the Controller at Sherpa Capital, a San Francisco based venture capital firm. Mr. Pipe was a member of the founding team and oversaw the finance, operations, legal, human resources, and information technology functions of the firm, scaling the back office to support approximately $700 million in assets under management. From 2011 to 2014, Mr. Pipe worked in a finance and operations role at Landmark Advisors. Mr. Pipe received a B.A. in Economics from New York University, where he studied on a National Merit Scholarship.
Jeffrey Harris, one of our directors, is the founder and managing member of Global Reserve Group LLC, a financial advisory and investment firm founded in 2011 focused primarily on the energy industry. From 1983 to 2011, he worked at Warburg Pincus LLC and was a Managing Director and member of the Executive Management Group. During his tenure he invested in numerous companies across sectors including energy, technology, telecommunications, industrial, and consumer/retail, and has served as a director of over forty public and private companies, including Chargepoint. Currently, he is a director of Knoll, Inc. and several private companies. In addition, Mr. Harris is a member of the Board of Trustees of each of the Cranbrook Educational Community, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Friends of the High Line. He was an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School for thirteen years, and is a past chairman of the National Venture Capital Association. Mr. Harris received a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. We believe Mr. Harris is well-qualified to serve as a director of the company based on his investment experience across multiple sectors.
Tracey Brophy Warson, one of our directors, is an advisor to startups in FinTech, clean energy, and food sustainability, and she has more than 30 years of experience building financial services businesses. Most recently, Ms. Warson was CEO of Citi Private Bank from 2014-2019, and she served as Chairman of Citi Private Bank North America from 2019-2020. As CEO of Citi Private Bank in North America, Ms. Warson was directly responsible for leading the ultra-high net worth and Law Firm Group private banking activities in 25 offices throughout North America, overseeing over $230.0 billion in client business volume as of year-end 2018. Prior to her role as CEO, she was Global Market Manager for the Western U.S. from 2010 to 2014 and oversaw Private Banking in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Orange County, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Phoenix and Seattle. From 2014-2018, Ms. Warson was the co-chair of Citi Women, Citi’s global strategy to focus on the advancement of women as leaders and business drivers. Before joining Citi in 2009, Ms. Warson served as West Division Executive for US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. Prior to joining US Trust, she was Executive Vice President and Regional Managing Director of Private Client Services at Wells Fargo Private Bank. Previously, Ms. Warson served as an Executive Vice President and Head of Sales and Distribution for Wells Fargo’s trading and sales business. She started her career in banking as an International Banking Officer at Toyo Trust& Banking Company in Los Angeles. Since 2015, Ms. Warson has been recognized each year by the American Banker as of one of the top “25 Most Powerful Women in Finance.” Additionally, in 2018, the Financial Times recognized Ms. Warson as an “FTHero” in their ranking of the Top 100 executives globally who support women in business. Ms. Warson earned her B.A. in Business Administration and French from the University of Minnesota. She also completed a fellowship at the Université de Tours in Tours, France. We believe Ms. Warson is qualified to serve on our board of directors because of her broad experience advising companies and her extensive contacts.
Matthew Luckett, one of our directors, is a seasoned alternative investor, with direct experience in hedge funds, venture capital, private equity and real estate. Since 2015, he has been the Managing Partner of ALBA Holdings, through which he directs his family office, and is focused on direct and fund investments across all asset classes. In addition, Mr. Luckett is the co-founder and a General Partner of Lampros Capital, an investment firm founded in 2016 that specializes in technology-enabled alternative private credit. Mr. Luckett serves on the investment committee for Global Customised Wealth LLP, a London-based ultra-high net worth wealth management firm, where he focuses on direct and co-investment opportunities. Mr. Luckett’s blank check company experience includes serving as a member of the Board of Directors of InterPrivate Acquisition Corp., which successfully closed its business combination with Aeva Technologies Inc. (NYSE: AEVA) in March 2021. From 2004 to 2014, Mr. Luckett was with Balestra Capital, LTD, a global macro investment firm, most recently as a General Partner. He was previously a Co-Portfolio Manager of Balestra Capital Partners, the firm’s global macro hedge fund and served on the investment committee of Balestra Spectrum Partners, the firm’s fund of funds. Mr. Luckett was also the managing partner of the firm’s Management Committee and was responsible for portfolio strategy, macro-economic research and idea generation and portfolio risk supervision for Balestra Capital Partners. During his tenure, Balestra was ranked as one of the best performing macro funds in the world by Hedge Fund Research, Inc. Prior to Balestra Capital, LTD, Mr. Luckett was a Principal and Senior Equity Research Analyst at SoundView Technology Group (Nasdaq: SNDV), where he was responsible for research coverage of software, Internet and business services companies. In 2000, he was named to the Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street” research analyst team. Mr. Luckett began his career as an industry analyst at Gartner Group. Mr. Luckett was a George F. Baker Scholar at Georgetown University where he graduated with honors. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies with a minor in Japanese. He currently serves on the board of the Georgetown Scholars Program (targeting first-generation college students) and has previously served on the Georgetown College Board of Advisors and on the Board of Trustees for the Baker Scholarship.
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Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors consists of five members and is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. In accordance with the NYSE 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 NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Jeffrey Harris, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Tracey Brophy Warson and Matthew Luckett, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Brandon Bentley and Ahmed Fattouh, will expire at the third annual meeting of stockholders.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Director Independence
The rules of the NYSE and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our Public Offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). We have three “independent directors” as defined in NYSE rules and applicable SEC rules. Our board of directors has determined that Jeffrey Harris, Tracey Brophy Warson and Matthew Luckett, are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Board Committees
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Jeffrey Harris, Tracey Brophy Warson and Matthew Luckett serve as members of our audit committee. Under NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent. Jeffrey Harris, Tracey Brophy Warson and Matthew Luckett are independent.
Jeffrey Harris serves as the chairman of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Jeffrey Harris qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
| ● | 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; |
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| ● | pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
| ● | reviewing and discussing with the independent registered public accounting firm all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
| ● | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm 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;” |
| ● | reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
| ● | reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Tracey Brophy Warson and Mathew Luckett, and Tracy Brophy Warson serves as chairman of the compensation committee. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
| ● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officer’s compensation, evaluating our chief executive officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our chief executive officer based on such evaluation; |
| ● | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
| ● | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| ● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| ● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
| ● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees; |
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| ● | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
| ● | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the payment to our Sponsor of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support, the payment to our Vice President of $10,000 per month for assisting us in negotiating and consummating an initial business combination, and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
We have established a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board of directors. The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Jeffrey Harris and Mathew Luckett, and Jeffrey Harris serves as chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
| ● | screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of stockholders or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
| ● | developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
| ● | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
| ● | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
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Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our executive officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our form of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, our audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee charters as exhibits to the Registration Statement on Form S-1. You may review each of these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and the charters of the committees will be provided without charge upon request from us. If we make any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics other than technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC or NYSE rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers, directors and persons who own more than ten percent of a registered class of our equity securities to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. Officers, directors and ten percent stockholders are required by regulation to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely on review of the copies of such forms furnished to us, or written representations that no Forms 5 were required, we believe that, during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, all Section 16(a) filing requirements applicable to our officers and directors were complied with.
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.
None of our executive officers or directors has received any cash compensation for services rendered. We will reimburse an affiliate of the Sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team in an amount not to exceed $10,000 per month in the event such space and/or services are utilized and we do not pay directly for such services. We also pay James Pipe, our Vice President, $10,000 per month for assisting us in negotiating and consummating an initial business combination. We will also pay consulting, success or finder fees to our Sponsor, officers, directors, initial stockholders or their affiliates in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease making these payments. In addition, the Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to the Sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to the Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
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We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our executive officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS.
We have no compensation plans under which equity securities are authorized for issuance.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this Annual Report, by:
| ● | each person known by us to be a beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding common stock, on an as-converted basis; |
| ● | each of our officers and directors; and |
| ● | all of our officers and directors as a group. |
The following table is based on 32,343,750 shares of common stock outstanding as of the date of this report, of which 25,875,000 were shares of Class A common stock and 6,468,750 were shares of Class B common stock. Unless otherwise indicated, it is believed that all persons named in the table below have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them.
| Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) | Number of Class A Common Stock Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Class A Common Stock | Number of Class B Common Stock Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Class B Common Stock | ||||||||||||
| InterPrivate Acquisition Management II, LLC(2)(3) | — | — | 6,348,750 | 98.1 | % | |||||||||||
| Ahmed Fattouh(2)(3) | — | — | 6,348,750 | 98.1 | % | |||||||||||
| Brian Q. Pham | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Brandon Bentley | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Alan Pinto | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| James Pipe | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Jeffrey Harris(2) | — | — | 30,000 | * | ||||||||||||
| Tracey Brophy Warson(2) | — | — | 30,000 | * | ||||||||||||
| Matthew Luckett(2) | — | — | 30,000 | * | ||||||||||||
| All executive officers and directors as a group (8 individuals) | — | — | 6,438,750 | 99.5 | % | |||||||||||
| Magnetar Financial LLC, Magnetar Capital Partners LP, Supernova Management LLC and Alec N. Litowitz(4) | 2,004,500 | 7.7 | % | — | — | |||||||||||
| Glazer Capital, LLC and Paul J. Glazer(5) | 1,562,517 | 6.0 | % | — | — | |||||||||||
| * | Less than one percent |
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our stockholders listed is 1350 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10019. |
| (2) | Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as shares of Class B common stock. 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 elsewhere herein. |
| (3) | The securities are held directly by InterPrivate Acquisition Management II, LLC. InterPrivate Capital LLC is the managing member of the Sponsor, and Ahmed Fattouh is the managing member of InterPrivate Capital LLC. Ahmed Fattouh has sole voting and investment discretion with respect to the common stock held of record by the Sponsor. Mr. Fattouh disclaims any beneficial ownership of the securities held by the Sponsor other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest he may have therein, directly or indirectly. |
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| (4) | According to a Schedule 13G filed by Magnetar Financial LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Magnetar Financial”), Magnetar Capital Partners LP, a Delaware limited partnership (Magnetar Capital Partners”), Supernova Management LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Supernova Management”), and Alec N. Litowitz, a United States citizen (“Mr. Litowitz”) with the SEC on January 21, 2022, each of Magnetar Financial, Magnetar Capital Partners, Supernova Management and Mr. Litowitz held 2,004,500 shares. The amount consists of (A) 202,385 shares held for the account of Magnetar Constellation Fund II, Ltd, a Cayman Island exempted company; (B) 697,500 shares held for the account of Magnetar Constellation Master Fund, Ltd, a Cayman Island exempted company; (C) 127,000 shares held for the account of Magnetar Systematic Multi-Strategy Master Fund Ltd, a Cayman Island exempted company; (D) 44,000 shares held for the account of Magnetar Capital Master Fund Ltd, a Cayman Island exempted company; (E) 26,500 shares held for the account of Magnetar Discovery Master Fund Ltd, a Cayman Island exempted company; (F) 236,715 shares held for the account of Magnetar Xing He Master Fund Ltd, a Cayman Island exempted company; (G) 101,190 shares held for the account of Purpose Alternative Credit Fund Ltd, a Cayman Island exempted company; (H) 157,210 shares held for the account of Magnetar SC Fund Ltd, a Cayman Island exempted company; (I) 269,245 shares held for the account of Magnetar Structured Credit Fund, LP, a Delaware limited partnership; (J) 108,420 shares held for the account of Magnetar Lake Credit Fund LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; and (K) 34,335 shares held of the account of Purpose Alternative Credit Fund - T LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. Magnetar Financial serves as the investment adviser to the various entities, and as such, Magnetar Financial exercises voting and investment power over the shares held. Magnetar Capital Partners serves as the sole member and parent holding company of Magnetar Financial. Supernova Management is the general partner of Magnetar Capital Partners. The manager of Supernova Management is Mr. Litowitz. The address of the principal business office of each of Magnetar Financial, Magnetar Capital Partners, Supernova Management, and Mr. Litowitz is 1603 Orrington Avenue, 13th Floor, Evanston, Illinois 60201. |
| (5) | According to a Schedule 13G filed by Glazer Capital, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Glazer Capital”), and Paul J. Glazer, a U.S. citizen (“Mr. Glazer”), with the SEC on February 14, 2022, each of Glazer Capital and Mr. Glazer holds 1,562,517 shares. The shares are held by certain funds and managed accounts to which Glazer Capital serves as investment manager, and Mr. Glazer serves as the managing member of Glazer Capital. The address of the principal business office of each of Glazer Capital and Mr. Glazer is 250 West 55th Street, Suite 30A, New York, New York 10019. |
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.
Founder Shares
On January 13, 2021, our Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration of 5,750,000 founder shares. On February 4, 2021, our Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of Jeffrey Harris, Susan L. Decker and Tracey Brophy Warson, our independent directors, resulting in our Sponsor holding 5,660,000 founder shares. On March 4, 2021, we effected a 1:1.125 stock split of our Class B common stock, resulting in our Sponsor and initial stockholders holding an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares. Prior to the initial investment in the Company of $25,000 by the 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 outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of the Public Offering would be a maximum of 25,875,000 Units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the Public Offering. The underwriters exercised the over-allotment in full simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering, thus no shares were forfeited. On November 22, 2021, Susan L. Decker resigned from the board of directors, Matthew Luckett was appointed to the board of directors and the Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to Mr. Luckett.
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Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering, we consummated the private placement of 3,850,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.50 per warrant, to the Sponsor, generating proceeds of approximately $5,775,000. Additionally, we consummated the private placement of 766,667 private placement warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant, to EarlyBirdCapital, Inc., the underwriter, generating proceeds of approximately $1,150,000. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable for one whole share of 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 was added to the proceeds from the Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our Sponsor, EarlyBirdCapital or their permitted transferees. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our Sponsor, EarlyBirdCapital or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the Units.
Registration Rights
The holders of founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any, and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed on March 4, 2021. Pursuant to the registration rights agreement and assuming $1,500,000 of Working Capital Loans are converted into private placement warrants, we will be obligated to register up to 12,285,417 shares of Class A common stock and 5,616,667 warrants. The number of shares of Class A common stock includes (i) 6,468,750 shares of Class A common stock to be issued upon conversion of the founder shares, (ii) 4,616,667 shares of Class A common stock underlying the private placement warrants, (iii) 1,000,000 shares of Class A common stock underlying the private placement warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans and (iv) 200,000 representative shares. The number of warrants includes 4,616,667 private placement warrants and 1,000,000 private placement warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form 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. Notwithstanding the foregoing, EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. may not exercise its demand and “piggy-back” registration rights more than five and seven years, respectively, after the effective date of the Registration Statement on Form S-1 and may not exercise its demand rights on more than one occasion in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8). We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Related Party Notes
On March 31, 2022, the Company entered into Convertible Promissory Note with the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $1,500,000. The Convertible Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and due on the earlier of March 9, 2023 and the date on which the Company consummates its initial business combination. If we complete a business combination, we would repay such additional loaned amounts, without interest, upon consummation of the business combination. In the event that a business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such additional loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such additional loans (if any) may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the Sponsor. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such additional loans (if any) have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. If we fully draw down on the Convertible Promissory Note and require additional funds for working capital purposes, the Sponsor, an affiliate of the Sponsor, or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us such additional funds as may be required. The issuance of the Convertible Promissory Note was approved by our board of directors and our audit committee on March 31, 2022. As of March 31, 2022, there was $197,518 outstanding under the Convertible Promissory Note.
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Administrative Services
The Company pays the Sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of the Company’s management team in an amount not to exceed $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services, and pays James Pipe, our Vice President, a services fee of $10,000 per month for assisting us in negotiating and consummating an initial business combination. We will also pay consulting, success or finder fees to our Sponsor, officers, directors, initial stockholders or their affiliates in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Upon completion of a business combination or the Company’s liquidation, the agreement will terminate and the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors adopted a policy setting forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or ratification of “related party transactions.” A “related party transaction” is any consummated or proposed transaction or series of transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably expected to exceed) the lesser of $120,000 or 1% of the average of the company’s total assets at year end for the prior two completed fiscal years in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction (without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a “related party” had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. “Related parties” under this policy will include: (i) our directors, nominees for director or executive officers; (ii) any record or beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities; (iii) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing if the foregoing person is a natural person; and (iv) any other person who maybe a “related person” pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the policy, the audit committee will consider (i) the relevant facts and circumstances of each related party transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in arm’s-length dealings with an unrelated third party, (ii) the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, (iii) whether the transaction contravenes our code of ethics or other policies, (iv) whether the audit committee believes the relationship underlying the transaction to be in the best interests of the company and its stockholders and (v) the effect that the transaction may have on a director’s status as an independent member of the board and on his or her eligibility to serve on the board’s committees. Management will present to the audit committee each proposed related party transaction, including all relevant facts and circumstances relating thereto. Under the policy, we may consummate related party transactions only if our audit committee approves or ratifies the transaction in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the policy. The policy will not permit any director or executive officer to participate in the discussion of, or decision concerning, a related person transaction in which he or she is the related party.
Director Independence
Currently Ms. Warson and Messrs. Harris and Luckett would each be considered an “independent director” under the NYSE listing rules, which 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 independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES.
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Marcum LLP, or Marcum, for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Marcum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Marcum for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of the financial information included in our Forms 10-Q for the respective periods and other required filings with the SEC for the period from September 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2021 totaled $33,475.
The above amounts include interim procedures and audit fees, as well as attendance at audit committee meetings.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related services consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay Marcum for consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards for the period from September 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2021.
Tax Fees. During the period from September 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2021, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm for the preparation of 2020 Corporation tax return was approximately $0.
All Other Fees. We did not pay Marcum for other services for the period from September 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2021.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our Public Offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
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PART IV
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.
| (a) | The following documents are filed as part of this report: |
| (1) | Financial Statements |
Reference is made to the Index to Financial Statements of the Company under Item 8 of Part II above.
| (2) | Financial Statement Schedule |
All financial statement schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial, not required, or the required information is presented in the financial statements and notes thereto in Item 8 of Part II above.
| (3) | Exhibits |
We hereby file as part of this report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index.
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| * | Filed herewith. |
ITEM 16. FORM 10-K SUMMARY
None.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| INTERPRIVATE II ACQUISITION CORP. | |||
| By: | /s/ Brandon Bentley | ||
| Name: | Brandon Bentley | ||
| Dated: March 31, 2022 | Title: | General Counsel and Director | |
POWER OF ATTORNEY
The undersigned directors and officers of InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp. hereby constitute and appoint each of Ahmed Fattouh and Brandon Bentley with the power to act without the others and with full power of substitution and resubstitution, our hue and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent with full power to execute in our name and behalf in the capacities indicated below any and all amendments to this report and to file the same, with all exhibits and other documents relating thereto and hereby ratify and confirm all that such attorney-in-fact, or such attorney-in-fact’s substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated below.
| Name | Title | Date | ||
| /s/ Ahmed Fattouh | Chief Executive Officer and Chairman | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Ahmed Fattouh | (Principal Executive, Financial and Accounting Officer) | |||
| /s/ Brian Q. Pham | Executive Vice President | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Brian Q. Pham | ||||
| /s/ Alan Pinto | Executive Vice President | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Alan Pinto | ||||
| /s/ Brandon Bentley | General Counsel and Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Brandon Bentley | ||||
| /s/ James Pipe | Vice President | March 31, 2022 | ||
| James Pipe | ||||
| /s/ Jeffrey Harris | Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Jeffrey Harris | ||||
| /s/ Tracey Brophy Warson | Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Tracey Brophy Warson | ||||
| /s/ Matthew Luckett | Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Matthew Luckett |
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INTERPRIVATE II ACQUISITION CORP
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of
InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year then ended, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 2 to the financial statements, the Company’s business plan is dependent on the completion of a business combination and the Company’s cash and working capital as of December 31, 2021 are not sufficient to complete its planned activities for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 2. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our 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/ Marcum llp
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.
March 30, 2022
F-2
INTERPRIVATE II ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE SHEET
| December 31, | ||||
| 2021 | ||||
| ASSETS | ||||
| Current assets | ||||
| Cash | $ | |||
| Prepaid expenses | ||||
| Total Current Assets | ||||
| Prepaid expense, net of current assets | ||||
| Marketable securities held in Trust Account | ||||
| TOTAL ASSETS | $ | |||
| LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT | ||||
| Current liabilities | ||||
| Income Tax Payable | ||||
| Related party payable | ||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | |||
| Total Current Liabilities | ||||
| Warrant liability | ||||
| Total Liabilities | ||||
| Commitments and Contingencies (See Note 6) | ||||
| Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | ||||
| Stockholders’ Deficit | ||||
| Preferred stock, $ | ||||
| Class
A common stock, $ | ||||
| Class B common stock, $ | ||||
| Additional paid-in capital | ||||
| Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ||
| Total Stockholders’ Deficit | ( | ) | ||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT | $ | |||
F-3
INTERPRIVATE II ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021
| Operating and formation costs | $ | |||
| Related party administrative fees | ||||
| Loss from operations | ( | ) | ||
| Other income (expense): | ||||
| Gain (loss) on warrant liabilities | ( | ) | ||
| Offering costs attributable to warrant liabilities | ( | ) | ||
| Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account | ||||
| Unrealized loss on marketable securities held in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||
| Other income (loss), net | ( | ) | ||
| Loss before income taxes | ( | ) | ||
| Provision for income taxes | ||||
| Net loss | $ | ( | ) | |
| Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class A common stock subject to redemption | ||||
| Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A common stock subject to redemption | $ | ( | ) | |
| Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Non-redeemable common stock | ||||
| Basic and diluted net loss per share, Non-redeemable common stock | $ | ( | ) |
F-4
INTERPRIVATE II ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021
| Class A | Class B | Additional | Retained Earnings | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Stock | Common Stock | Paid-in | (Accumulated | Stockholders’ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit) | Deficit | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance — December 31, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of Representative Shares | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance costs associated with sale of Public Units | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accretion of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance – December 31, 2021 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
F-5
INTERPRIVATE II ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021
| Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||
| Net loss | $ | ( | ) | |
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||
| Loss on warrant liabilities | ||||
| Offering costs attributable to warrant liabilities | ||||
| Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||
| Unrealized loss on marketable securities held in Trust Account | ||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | ( | ) | ||
| Related party payable | ||||
| Accrued expenses | ||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | ( | ) | ||
| Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||
| Investment of cash in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||
| Net cash used in investing activities | ( | ) | ||
| Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||
| Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriting discounts paid | ||||
| Proceeds from sale of Private Placement Warrants | ||||
| Proceeds from promissory note – related party | ||||
| Repayment of promissory note – related party | ( | ) | ||
| Payment of offering costs | ( | ) | ||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | ||||
| Net Change in Cash | ||||
| Cash – Beginning of period | ||||
| Cash – End of period | $ | |||
| Non-Cash investing and financing activities: | ||||
| Initial classification of Common Stock subject to possible redemption | $ | |||
| Offering costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Founder Shares | $ | |||
| Issuance of Representative Shares | $ | |||
| Deferred offering costs in accrued expenses | $ | |||
F-6
NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on September 10, 2020. It was originally incorporated under the name “InterPrivate IV Capital Partners Corp.”, but the Company changed its name to “InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp.” on January 6, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of effectuating a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses (each, a “Business Combination”).
The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation, the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”), and subsequent to the Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for a Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income on cash and cash equivalents in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering
was declared effective on March 4, 2021. On March 9, 2021, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial
Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of
Transaction costs amounted to $
Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering
on March 9, 2021, an amount of $
The Company’s management has broad discretion
with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants,
although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. NYSE rules
provide that the Business Combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least
F-7
The Company will provide its holders of the outstanding
Public Shares (the “public stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the
completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or
(ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct
a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public
Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially $
If the Company seeks stockholder approval, the
Company will proceed with a Business Combination only if a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination.
If a stockholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons,
the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation”),
conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file
tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is
required by law, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, the Company will offer to redeem
shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. The Company will
not redeem its Public Shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $
Notwithstanding the above, if the Company seeks
stockholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Amended and
Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other
person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate
of
The Sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital have agreed (a) to waive
their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares, Representative Shares and Public Shares held by them in connection with
the completion of a Business Combination, (b) waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares and Representative Shares
if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination and (c) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of
Incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the Company’s
initial Business Combination or to redeem
The Company will have until March 9, 2023 or any
extended period of time that the Company may have to consummate a Business Combination as a result of an amendment to the Company’s
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to complete a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”). If the Company
is unable to complete a 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 not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a
per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the
funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations (less up to $
F-8
In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust
Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or
products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement,
reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (1) $
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues 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 and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for financial information and in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-K and Article 8 of Regulation S-X of the SEC.
F-9
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statement with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the condensed financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
On March 9, 2021, the Company consummated the
Public Offering of
For the year ended December 31, 2021, cash used
in operating activities was $
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had marketable
securities held in the Trust Account of $
F-10
The Company intends to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account (less income taxes payable), to complete its business combination. To the extent that the capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete the Company’s 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 the Company’s growth strategies.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had cash
of $
In order to fund working capital deficiencies
or finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors
or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required. If the Company completes a business combination,
the Company would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that a business combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of
the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from the Company’s Trust Account
would be used for such repayment. Up to $
The Company will need to raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from its initial stockholders, officers or directors. If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction, and reducing overhead expenses. The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern through one year and one day from the issuance of this report.
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
The Company complies with the requirements of the Accounting Standards Codification (the “ASC”) 340-10-S99-1 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin Topic 5A — “Expenses of Offering.” Offering costs consist principally of professional and registration fees incurred through the balance sheet date that are related to our Public Offering and were charged to stockholders’ equity upon the completion of our Public Offering.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of December 31, 2021.
Marketable Securities Held in Trust Account
At December 31, 2021, substantially all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in money market funds which are invested primarily in U.S. Treasury securities.
Warrant Liability
The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own shares of common stock and whether the warrant holders could potentially require “net cash settlement” in a circumstance outside of the Company’s control, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding. As of December 31, 2021 and March 9, 2021, the Private Placement Warrants were accounted for as liabilities, and the Public Warrants were accounted for as temporary equity (see Note 8).
F-11
For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in-capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter. The Company accounts for the Private Placement Warrants issued in connection with its Initial Public Offering in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40-15-7D, under which the Private Placement Warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, the Company classifies the Private Placement Warrants as liabilities at their fair value and adjusts the Private Placement Warrants to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. The fair value of the Private Placement Warrants initially was estimated using a Binomial Lattice Model (see Note 9).
Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2021, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
Income Taxes
The Company complies with the accounting and reporting requirements of ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes,” which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed for differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in future taxable or deductible amounts, based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
ASC Topic 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits, if any, as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of December 31, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
Net Income (Loss) per Common Share
Net income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, excluding shares of common stock subject to forfeiture.
The Company’s statement of operations includes a presentation of income (loss) per share for common stock subject to possible redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method of income (loss) per share. Net income (loss) per common share, basic and diluted, for Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is calculated by dividing the proportionate share of income or loss on marketable securities held by the Trust Account, net of applicable franchise and income taxes, by the weighted average number of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption outstanding since original issuance.
F-12
Net income (loss) per share, basic and diluted, for non-redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the net income (loss), adjusted for income or loss on marketable securities attributable to Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, by the weighted average number of non-redeemable common stock outstanding for the period.
Non-redeemable common stock includes Founder Shares and non-redeemable shares of common stock as these shares do not have any redemption features. Non-redeemable common stock participates in the income or loss on marketable securities based on non-redeemable shares’ proportionate interest.
The following table reflects the calculation of basic and diluted net income (loss) per common share (in dollars, except per share amounts):
| Year Ended December 31, 2021 | ||||
| Ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | ||||
| Net loss allocable to Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | $ | ( | ) | |
| Denominator: Weighted Average Class A | ||||
| Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | ||||
| Basic and Diluted net income per share, Redeemable Ordinary Shares | $ | ( | ) | |
| Non-Redeemable ordinary shares | ||||
| Numerator: | ||||
| Net loss | $ | ( | ) | |
| Less: Net loss attributable to Class A common stock not subject to possible redemption | ||||
| Net loss attributable to Class A common stock not subject to possible redemption | ( | ) | ||
| Denominator: Weighted Average Non-Redeemable | ||||
| Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, ordinary shares | ||||
| Basic and diluted net loss per share, ordinary shares | $ | ( | ) | |
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject
the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times may exceed the Federal
Depository Insurance Coverage of $
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying condensed balance sheets, primarily due to their short-term nature.
Recent Accounting Standards
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s condensed financial statements.
NOTE 3. PUBLIC OFFERING
Pursuant to the Initial Public Offering, the Company
sold
F-13
Transaction costs amounted to $
NOTE 4. PRIVATE PLACEMENT
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial
Public Offering, the Sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital purchased an aggregate of
NOTE 5. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Founder Shares
On January 13, 2021, the Sponsor paid $
The Sponsor has agreed, subject to certain limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until (i) with respect to 50% of such shares, for a period ending on the earlier of the one-year anniversary of the date of the consummation of a Business Combination and the date on which the closing price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period following the consummation of a Business Combination and (ii) with respect to the remaining 50% of such shares, for a period ending on the one-year anniversary of the date of the consummation of a Business Combination, or, in either case, earlier if, subsequent to a Business Combination, the Company consummates a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Administrative Services Agreement
The Company entered into an agreement, commencing on March 4, 2021,
pursuant to which the Company will pay the Sponsor a total of up to $
F-14
Promissory Note — Related Party
On January 13, 2021, the Sponsor issued an unsecured
promissory note to the Company (the “Promissory Note”), pursuant to which the Company could borrow up to an aggregate principal
amount of $
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection
with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s directors and officers may,
but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a
Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company.
Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination
does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans, but no proceeds
held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital
Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either
be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $
Services Agreement
The Company entered into an agreement, pursuant to which the Company
will pay its Vice President a total of $
NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Registration Rights
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into on March 4, 2021, the holders of the Founder Shares, Representative Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) have registration rights requiring the Company to register a sale of any of the securities held by them prior to the consummation of a Business Combination. The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination. The registration rights agreement does not contain liquidated damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering the Company’s securities. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Business Combination Marketing Agreement
The Company has engaged Morgan Stanley and EarlyBirdCapital as
advisors in connection with the Business Combination to assist the Company in holding meetings with its stockholders to discuss the potential
Business Combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce the Company to potential investors that are interested in purchasing
the Company’s securities in connection with the Business Combination, assist the Company in obtaining stockholder approval for the
Business Combination and assist the Company with its press releases and public filings in connection with the Business Combination. The
Company will pay Morgan Stanley and EarlyBirdCapital a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of a Business Combination
in an amount equal to
F-15
NOTE 7. STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
Preferred Stock — The Company
is authorized to issue
Class A Common Stock — The
Company is authorized to issue up to
Class B Common Stock — The
Company is authorized to issue up to
Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of stockholders, except as required by law.
The shares of Class B common stock will automatically
convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of a Business Combination on a
one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment.
NOTE 8. WARRANTS
Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares.
No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Public Warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the
consummation of a Business Combination. The Public Warrants will expire
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated to issue a share of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless the share of Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants.
The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than twenty (20) business days after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. The Company will use its best efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration or redemption of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the sixtieth (60th) business day after the closing of a Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the above, if the Class A common stock are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, the Company will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event the Company does not so elect, the Company will use its best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
F-16
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 to each warrant holder; and |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if it is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
The exercise price and number of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, extraordinary dividend or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, except as described below, the Public Warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of Class A common stock at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the Public Warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of Public Warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their Public Warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with respect to such Public Warrants. Accordingly, the Public Warrants may expire worthless.
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 Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company’s board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (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 Company’s initial Business Combination on the date of the consummation of such initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Company’s 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 80% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the shares of common stock issuable upon the 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 exercisable on a cashless basis and will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
F-17
Representative Shares
The Company issued to EarlyBirdCapital and
its designees
The Representative Shares have been deemed compensation by FINRA and are therefore subject to a lock-up for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the registration statement related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(g)(1). Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(g)(1), these securities will not be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the registration statements related to the Initial Public Offering, nor may they be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the registration statements related to the Initial Public Offering except to any underwriter and selected dealer participating in the Initial Public Offering and their bona fide officers or partners.
NOTE 9. INCOME TAX
The Company’s net deferred tax assets are as follows:
| 12/31/2021 | ||||
| Deferred tax asset (liability) | ||||
| Net operating loss carryforward | $ | |||
| Startup/Organization Expenses | ||||
| Unrealized gain/loss | ( | ) | ||
| Total deferred tax assets | ||||
| Valuation Allowance | ( | ) | ||
| Deferred tax asset (liability), net of allowance | $ | ( | ) | |
The company’s provision (benefit) for income taxes is as follows:
| 12/31/2021 | ||||
| Federal | ||||
| Current expense/(benefit) | $ | |||
| Deferred expense/(benefit) | ( | ) | ||
| State and Local | ||||
| Current | ||||
| Deferred | ||||
| Change in valuation allowance | ||||
| Income tax provision expense/ (benefit) | $ | |||
F-18
In assessing the realization of the deferred tax
assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion of all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.
The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which
temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred
tax liabilities, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. After consideration of all of
the information available, management believes that significant uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of the deferred
tax assets and has therefore established a full valuation allowance. For the period ended December 31, 2021, the change in the valuation
allowance was $
| 12/31/2021 | ||||
| Statutory federal income tax rate | % | |||
| State taxes, net of federal tax benefit | % | |||
| Deferred tax liability change in rate | % | |||
| Transaction costs warrants | - | % | ||
| Change in FV warrants | - | % | ||
| Meals & entertainment | % | |||
| Valuation allowance | - | % | ||
| Income tax provision expense/(benefit) | % | |||
NOTE 10. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The Company follows the guidance in ASC 820 for its financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at each reporting period, and non-financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at least annually.
The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
| Level 1: | Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis. | |
| Level 2: | Observable inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active. | |
| Level 3: | Unobservable inputs based on our assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. |
F-19
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2021, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
| Description | December 31, 2021 | |||
| Assets: | ||||
| Marketable securities held in Trust Account | $ | |||
| Liabilities: | ||||
| Warrant Liability – Private Placement Warrants | ||||
| Warrant Liability – Underwriters Warrants | ||||
The Private Placement Warrants were initially valued using a Binomial Lattice Model, which is considered to be a Level 3 fair value measurement. The Binomial Lattice Model’s primary unobservable input utilized in determining the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants is the expected volatility of the common stock. The expected volatility as of the IPO date was derived from observable public warrant pricing on comparable ‘blank-check’ companies without an identified target. The expected volatility as of subsequent valuation dates was implied from the Company’s own public warrant pricing. A Binomial Lattice Model was used in estimating the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants for periods where no observable traded price was available.
The key inputs into the Binomial Lattice Model for the initial measurement of Private Placement Warrants and subsequent measurement of the Private Placement Warrants are as follows:
| Term | December 31, 2021 | March 9, 2021 | ||||||
| Risk-free interest rate | % | % | ||||||
| Market price of public stock | $ | $ | ||||||
| Dividend Yield | % | % | ||||||
| Implied volatility | % | % | ||||||
| Exercise price | $ | $ | ||||||
On December 31, 2021, and March 9, 2021 the Private
Placement Warrants were determined to be valued at $
The following table presents the changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities:
| Private Placement | Underwriters Warrants | |||||||
| Fair value as of March 9, 2021 | $ | $ | ||||||
| Change in valuation inputs or other assumptions | ||||||||
| Fair value as of December 31, 2021 | $ | $ | ||||||
During the year ended December 31, 2021 there were no transfers out of Level 3.
NOTE 11. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
On March 31, 2022,
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the condensed financial statements were issued. The Company did not identify any subsequent events other than the above that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the condensed financial statements.
F-20