As filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on December 23, 2021 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
No. 333-254265
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
AMENDMENT NO. 2
TO
FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Cayman Islands | 6770 | 98-1581873 | ||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
875 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022
(212) 891-2100
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrants principal executive offices)
Timothy M. Donahue
Chief Executive Officer
875 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022
(212) 891-2100
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies of all communications, including communications sent to agent for service, should be sent to:
Christian O. Nagler Peter S. Seligson Kirkland & Ellis LLP 601 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10022 Tel: (212) 446-4800 Fax: (212) 446-4900 |
Derek J. Dostal Deanna L. Kirkpatrick Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 450 Lexington Avenue New York, New York Tel: (212) 450-4000 Fax: (212) 701-5800 |
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box: ☐
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. ☐
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||
Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ | |||
Emerging growth company | ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
| ||||||||
Title of Each Class of Security Being Registered |
Amount Being Registered |
Proposed Maximum Offering Price per Security(1) |
Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1) |
Amount of Registration Fee | ||||
Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, $0.0001 par value, and one-third of one redeemable warrant(2) |
28,750,000 units | $10.00 | $287,500,000 | $26,652 | ||||
Class A ordinary shares included as part of the units(3) |
28,750,000 shares | | | (4) | ||||
Redeemable warrants included as part of the units(3) |
9,583,333 warrants | | | (4) | ||||
Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of redeemable warrants included as part of the units(3) |
9,583,333 warrants | $11.50(5) | $110,208,330 | $10,217 | ||||
Total |
| $397,708,330 | $36,869(6) | |||||
| ||||||||
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(1) | Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee. |
(2) | Includes 3,750,000 units, consisting of 3,750,000 Class A ordinary shares and 1,250,000 redeemable warrants, which may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriters to cover over-allotments, if any. |
(3) | Pursuant to Rule 416(a), there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be offered or issued to prevent dilution resulting from share splits, share dividends, or similar transactions. |
(4) | No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g). |
(5) | Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act, based on the exercise price of the warrants. |
(6) | Registration fee has previously been paid. |
The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and itis not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED DECEMBER 23, 2021
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II
$250,000,000
25,000,000 Units
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to as our initial business combination. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region in our identification and acquisition of a target company.
This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, terms and limitations as described herein. The underwriters have a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to 3,750,000 additional units to cover overallotments, if any.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations as described herein. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem 100% of the public shares for cash, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as described herein.
Our sponsor has agreed to purchase 950,000 units (or 1,025,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $10.00 per unit in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of this offering for an aggregate purchase price of $9,500,000 (or $10,250,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). The private placement units are identical to the units sold in this offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this prospectus. Our sponsor currently owns 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, up to 937,500 of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described herein. Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will be entitled to vote on the election of directors.
Currently, there is no public market for our securities. We have applied to have our units listed on the New York Stock Exchange, or the NYSE, under the symbol CTII.U We expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the NYSE under the symbols CTII and CTII WS, respectively, on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless the representatives of the underwriters permit earlier separate trading and we have satisfied certain conditions.
We are an emerging growth company under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements.
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See Risk Factors beginning on page 41 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Per Unit |
Total | |||||||
Public offering price |
$ | 10.00 | $ | 250,000,000 | ||||
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1) |
$ | 0.55 | $ | 13,750,000 | ||||
Proceeds, before expenses, to us |
$ | 9.45 | $ | 236,250,000 |
(1) | Includes $0.35 per unit, or $8,750,000 in the aggregate (or $10,062,500 in the aggregate if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein and released to the underwriters only upon the consummation of an initial business combination. See also Underwriting for a description of compensation payable to the underwriters. |
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the non-interest bearing and unsecured loan in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to be made to us by our sponsor simultaneously with the closing of this offering, each of which is described in this prospectus, $255,000,000, or $293,250,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.20 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a U.S. based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.
The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriters expect to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about , 2021.
Deutsche Bank Securities | PJT Partners |
The date of this prospectus is , 2021.
We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and neither we nor the underwriters take any responsibility for any other information others may give to you. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.
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MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS |
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This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under Risk Factors and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:
| Advisors or our Advisory Board are to Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir, Shervin Gerami and Peter Foyo; |
| amended and restated memorandum and article of association are to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that the company will adopt prior to the consummation of this offering; |
| Cerberus are to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., together with its affiliated management and general partner entities, operations companies and loan servicing companies; |
| COAC are to Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company, LLC and its similarly situated, affiliated entities; |
| Companies Act are to the Companies Act (2021 Revision) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time; |
| CTAC I are to Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company and blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company; |
| CTS are to Cerberus Technology Solutions, LLC and its similarly situated, affiliated entities; |
| founder shares are to our Class B ordinary shares initially issued to our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be public shares); |
| initial shareholders refers to all of our shareholders immediately prior to the date of this prospectus, including all of our officers and directors to the extent they hold such shares; |
| management or our management team are to our executive officers and directors (including our director nominees that will become directors in connection with the consummation of this offering); |
| ordinary shares are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares; |
| overfunding loan refers to the non-interest bearing and unsecured loan in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to be made to us by our sponsor simultaneously with the closing of this offering for the purpose of overfunding the trust account and is convertible into private placement shares of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per share or may be repaid in cash upon the closing of our initial business combination at the option of our sponsor; |
| public shares are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market); |
| private placement shares are to the Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the private placement units and upon conversion of the outstanding principal on the overfunding loan; |
| private placement units are to the units to be issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering and upon conversion of working capital loans, if any; |
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| private placement warrants are to the warrants sold as part of the private placement units, as a part of private placement units that are issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any; |
| public shareholders are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor and management team to the extent our sponsor and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that our sponsors and each member of our management teams status as a public shareholder will only exist with respect to such public shares; |
| sponsor are to Cerberus Telecom Acquisition II Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; and |
| we, us, our, company or our company are to Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II, a Cayman Islands exempted company. |
Any forfeiture of shares described in this prospectus will take effect as a surrender of shares for no consideration of such shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any conversion of the Class B ordinary shares described in this prospectus will take effect as a compulsory redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any share dividends described in this prospectus will take effect as share capitalizations as a matter of Cayman Islands law.
Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option.
OVERVIEW
We are a blank check company newly incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target. Our sponsor is an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., together with its affiliated management and general partner entities, operations companies and loan servicing companies (collectively, Cerberus).
Our sponsor was founded by Stephen A. Feinberg and certain senior executives of Cerberus. Stephen A. Feinberg founded Cerberus in 1992 and is currently its Co-Chief Executive Officer. Cerberus has become a global leader in alternative investing with approximately $56 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2020 and expertise in private equity, credit and real estate. Over the course of its history, Cerberus has developed a group of senior information and communications technology (ICT) executives and investors with a proven track record of leading, investing in and growing large, scaled enterprises.
Cerberus previously sponsored CTAC I, a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, which completed its business combination with KORE Wireless on October 1, 2021. KORE Wireless is a global leader in Internet of Things solutions and worldwide Connectivity-as-a-Service. The combined company operates as KORE Wireless and is listed on the NYSE under the new ticker KORE.
Timothy M. Donahue will serve as the Chairman of the board of directors and our Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Donahue has been a senior advisor to Cerberus operations group since 2009 and brings vast experience, deep relationships and strategic vision to investing in ICT. Mr. Donahue is the former Chairman of Sprint Nextel where he grew the companys market capitalization from approximately $16 billion to approximately $40 billion during the period from July 1999 to July 2005. Mr. Donahue is currently the Chairman of the board of directors of KORE Wireless, which merged with CTAC I through a business combination on October 1, 2021.
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In addition to Mr. Donahue, our board of directors will include industry veterans Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir (former Chief Executive Officer of Juniper Networks and Coriant), who will also serve as our Chief Technology Officer and on our Advisory Board, Timothy Kasbe (President of Zoho Corporation Pty Ltd.), Dr. Hossein Moiin (former Chief Technology Officer of Nokia) and Robert C. Davenport (Head of Global Corporate Credit and Distressed Debt at Cerberus). We will also form an Advisory Board, which will play an instrumental role in sourcing and assessing technology of potential business combination targets and will be comprised of Dr. Kheradpir, Dr. Moiin, Shervin Gerami (Chief Executive Officer of TeleWorld) and Peter Foyo (former Chief Executive Officer of Nextel Mexico).
Jeffrey L. Lomasky (Chief Financial Officer of Cerberus for more than 26 years) will serve as our Chief Financial Officer. Nicholas P. Robinson and Michael K. Palmer, who help manage ICT investments for Cerberus, will serve as Co-Chief Investment Officers.
In addition to benefiting from the resources of our management, our board of directors, our Advisory Board, and the broader Cerberus organization, our sponsor will leverage Cerberus proprietary operational platforms, including Cerberus Technology Solutions, LLC (together with other similarly situated, affiliated entities, CTS) and Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company, LLC (together with other similarly situated, affiliated entities, COAC), which will be available to support our disciplined investment process and subsequent business management and strategic value creation initiatives following a business combination.
The company intends to target ICT companies that benefit from the transformational, long-term impacts of capital deployment in the 5G stack. Such companies may include network operators (mobile operators, fiber operators, datacenters and tower companies), equipment vendors, device makers, semiconductor providers, IT and cloud services, network optimization, ICT software and applications companies. Opportunities will be sourced from our management and Advisors and their extensive network of executives, investors, and advisors and the broader Cerberus organization. The company will target assets with growing market presence, which would benefit from our investment and influence. The company will seek to utilize its experienced team to address strategic opportunities, capital needs, and regulatory considerations.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND MANAGEMENT
Our selection process will leverage our managements and Advisors broad and deep relationship network, unique industry experiences and deal sourcing capabilities to access a broad spectrum of differentiated opportunities.
This network has been developed through our and Cerberus demonstrated success both investing in and operating businesses, developing a distinctive combination of capabilities including:
| a track record of creating and growing multi-billion dollar platforms in the private and public markets; |
| extensive M&A experience, including driving transformational transactions; |
| the ability to enhance and advise management teams as they transition from private to public markets; |
| experience driving capital allocation decisions at the corporate level; |
| an understanding of public market performance and requirements; |
| an extensive history of sourcing, structuring, acquiring, operating, developing, growing, financing and selling businesses; |
| deep relationships with company management teams (potential targets); investment banks and financial institutions; financial advisors, lawyers and consultants; ICT industry experts and other private equity firms; |
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| experience deploying broad value creation strategies, including recruiting world-class talent and delivering operating efficiency by consistently exceeding synergy targets; and |
| an extensive history of accessing the capital markets across various business cycles. |
Our board of directors will include Timothy M. Donahue, Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir, Timothy Kasbe, Dr. Hossein Moiin and Robert C. Davenport.
| Timothy M. DonahueChairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer: Mr. Donahue served as the Chief Executive Officer of Nextel Communications Inc., a nationwide wireless telecommunications company, from 1999 until 2005, when Nextel was merged with Sprint Corporation to form Sprint Nextel Corporation. Thereafter, and until 2006, Mr. Donahue was the Executive Chairman of Sprint Nextel and the Chairman of the Sprint Nextel Corporation. From 1996 until his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Donahue served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nextel. During Mr. Donahues tenure at Nextel, Nextel experienced significant improvements in financial performance, including significant growth in revenues and EBITDA. Over that same period, the market capitalization of the company increased from approximately $16 billion to approximately $40 billion. Mr. Donahue started his telecommunications career with McCaw Cellular in 1986 as president of its paging division. Mr. Donahue is currently a member of the board of directors of Ligado Networks (wireless network) and AURA Network Systems (communications). Mr. Donahue is currently the Chairman of the board of directors of KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE), which completed a business combination with CTAC I on October 1, 2021, and previously served as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I. Mr. Donahue is a former director of ADT Corporation (home security) (formerly NASDAQ:ADT); Covidien plc (medical devices) (NYSE:COV); Eastman Kodak Company (imaging) (NYSE:KODK); Nextel Partners Inc. (telecommunications); NVR Inc. (home builder) (NYSE:NVR); and Tyco International Ltd. (diversified) (formerly NYSE:TYC). Mr. Donahue also served on the board of John Carroll University and is the former chairman of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA). In 2004, Institutional Investor Magazine honored Mr. Donahue as the best chief executive officer in the telecommunications services and wireless sector based on ratings by investors and brokerage firm analysts. Mr. Donahue received his BA in English Literature from John Carroll University. |
| Dr. Shaygan KheradpirChief Technology Officer and Director Nominee: Dr. Kheradpir is best known for driving transformational change through technology innovation at Verizon where he was Group Chief Information Officer from January 2000 to December 2010, at Barclays Bank as Group Chief Operating Officer from January 2011 to December 2013, and at Juniper Networks from January 2014 to December 2014 and Coriant from September 2015 to June 2018 as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Dr. Kheradpir continues to work with high-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley, leading private equity firms, and national governments on 5G networks, next generation applications for the industrial internet, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and blockchain. Dr. Kheradpir was on the founding Executive Leadership Committee of Verizon, helping transform it from a phone company to a premier telecom company worldwide in super high-speed networks such as FiOS and 4G-LTE, in interactive multi-media, and in world-class customer service and internal automation. At Barclays, Dr. Kheradpir was Group Chief Operating Officer and on the banks Global Executive Committee, setting the course for 21st century industrialization in financial services. At Juniper, as Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kheradpir focused the company by creating and executing its Integrated Operating Plan (IOP), while becoming a premier cloudbuilder and creator of high IQ networks via cutting-edge networking technology, automation and machine learning. At Coriant, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kheradpir integrated and re-invented three predecessor companies of Tellabs, Siemens Optical, and Sycamore, creating the industry first Hyperscale Carrier Architecture (HCA) products, propelling Coriant to become the leading insurgent telecom equipment company worldwide across high-speed packet-optical and 5G networks. Dr. Kheradpir received his BS, MS |
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and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from Cornell University, served on the advisory board of US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is on the board of MTN Group (260 million wireless subscribers), and is on the Cornell University Engineering Council. Dr. Kheradpir previously served as the Chief Technology Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Dr. Kheradpir was inducted into the CIO Hall of Fame in 2006 and selected in 1990 as outstanding young engineer by US National Academy of Engineering (NAE). |
| Dr. Hossein MoiinDirector Nominee: Dr. Moiin has over 30 years of experience in the ICT sector. Dr. Moiin was Chief Technology, Innovation, and Strategy Officer for Nokia Mobile Networks from 2016 to 2018 where he was responsible for returning Nokia to profitability following the acquisition of the Alcatel Lucent wireless business and merging portfolios in a manner that minimized customer disruption. Dr. Moiin was also responsible for 5G and IoT, and for creating a roadmap from 4G networks encompassing technology and business models. Prior to that, Dr. Moiin was Chief Technology and Innovation Officer and a member of the Executive Board of Nokia from January 2012 to February 2016. Dr. Moiin previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Dr. Moiin also served in senior technology roles at British Telecom and T-Mobile. Dr. Moiin obtained his BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in Electrical and Computer Engineering. |
| Mr. Timothy KasbeDirector Nominee: Mr. Kasbe is President of Zoho Enterprise and is on the board of directors of Zoho Corporation Pty Ltd. (collectively, Zoho), a leading SAAS and PAAS company that operates in over 180 countries. Zoho has over one hundred products across customer experience, employee productivity and systems administration domains, serving over 70 million global users. Mr. Kasbe has been a Chief Information Officer (CIO) many times over, managing multi-billion dollar budgets and teams of over 26,000 technologists supporting businesses across retail, finance high-tech and biotech. Mr. Kasbe built the technology platform at Reliance Industries Ltd. Reliance Jio Mart is the top technology and eCommerce retailer in India today. At Sears, Mr. Kasbe helped transform the traditional brick and mortar retailer into a leading online marketplace. At Precigen Inc., Mr. Kasbe worked with hundreds of scientists in developing a first of its kind synthetic DNA supply chain. Mr. Kasbe helped build the digital platform at Gloria Jeans, along with a transformation of the supply chain mechanics, resulting in continued growth for Gloria Jeans and The Warehouse Group. Mr. Kasbe led a startup called the market, now New Zealands eCommerce marketplace. Mr. Kasbe has led many engagements in investments, valuation, due diligence, and transformation at private equity firms over the past ten years. Additionally, Mr. Kasbe has supported and mentored numerous startups including Twine Health, Cloudant, Tamr, Intrexon, Mapkin, OpenBay, Vertica and Carta. In addition to Zoho, Mr. Kasbe also serves on the board of TAMR, Inc., an AI-based data cleansing and visualization company and Cargo Services Far East, one of the largest freight forwarders in China and Hong Kong. Mr. Kasbe is a board advisor to KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE). Mr. Kasbe previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from January 2021 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless on October 1, 2021. Mr. Kasbe has been named CIO 100, most innovative CIO, Influential CIO and CIO 100 in publications in India, USA, Russia and New Zealand. Mr. Kasbe was a distinguished visiting scholar at Stanford University from 2011 to 2018 and completed doctoral studies in ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Duke University in May 2020. Mr. Kasbe has volunteered with Good Shepherd Schools (child education), India, Chabad House (orphan care), Rostov on Don, Russia, Salvation Army (hunger cure), Russia and Youthline (teen suicide hotline), New Zealand. The Kasbe family are foster parents and have served with Asha Graahum, Mumbai, Safe Families, Chicago, Detski Dom, Russia in the past and currently serve with OrangaTamariki (foster care) in New Zealand. |
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| Mr. Robert C. DavenportDirector Nominee: Mr. Davenport is Cerberus Head of Global Corporate Credit and Distressed Debt. Mr. Davenport is responsible for overseeing and managing Cerberus investments in stressed and distressed debt on a global basis. Mr. Davenport is also Chairman of the Corporate Credit Investment Committee. Since joining the firm in 1996, Mr. Davenport has played a significant role in building and establishing Cerberus core credit platform, which has invested approximately $30 billion across industries, geographies, and asset classes. In addition, Mr. Davenport has led the investment of multiple billions of capital per year during periods of market dislocation, such as the Asian Financial Crisis and the Great Financial Crisis. Mr. Davenport oversees a team of more than 25 dedicated investment professionals, who cover the United States, Europe, and emerging markets and have significant experience identifying and sourcing investment opportunities. During his tenure, Mr. Davenport has helped Cerberus develop new investment strategies that expand outside its core strategy of investing in stressed and distressed debt. Prior to Cerberus, Mr. Davenport was a principal at Vestar Capital Partners from 1990 to 1994, where he was responsible for identifying, analyzing and executing leveraged buyout opportunities. From 1988 to 1990, Mr. Davenport worked in the mergers and acquisitions group at Drexel Burnham. Mr. Davenport previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Davenport graduated from the University of California. Mr. Davenport is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, California. |
In addition to our board of directors, we will form an Advisory Board that includes Dr. Kheradpir, Shervin Gerami and Peter Foyo.
| Shervin Gerami: Mr. Gerami is the Chief Executive Officer of TeleWorld Solutions, a wireless services and consulting firm that was recently acquired by Samsung and the Founder/Former Chief Executive Officer of SmallCellSite.com, the first online and open marketplace for real estate for 4G and 5G networks. Mr. Gerami grew TeleWorld Solutions to over 400 employees, working with over 50 clients, including Tier-1 wireless operators, MSOs, OEMs, media and IoT providers. Prior to TeleWorld Solutions, Mr. Gerami spent a decade working for Nextel, Sprint, and XOHM in various management and technical roles, including management of wireless networks across 3G and 4G. Mr. Gerami previously served as an advisor to CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Gerami holds a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee. Mr. Gerami has also completed executive education at Harvard and Wharton. |
| Peter Foyo: Mr. Foyo is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Principal Standard Group (PSG) where he develops and implements projects in sectors such as real estate, health care, energy, and communications. Mr. Foyo spent much of his career as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Nextel de Mexico. Mr. Foyo significantly increased the companys customer base, securing a significant share of the Mexican postpaid market in the process. Mr. Foyo helped the company garner several major industry awards and recognitions, including Socially Responsible Company for eight consecutive years and One of the Best Places to Work since 2007. Under Mr. Foyos leadership, Nextel de Mexico was awarded Pyramid Researchs (now Global Data) Latin Americas Mobile Operator of the Year award in 2003 and 2004. Mr. Foyo spent the early years of his career with AT&T Corporation, beginning as a product planner in the computer systems division and advancing to become a corporate strategy director. As a leader of the AT&T/Telecom Italia regional network plan for Latin America, he established working partnerships with major telecom organizations around the world. Mr. Foyo has held numerous board leadership positions over the course of his career, including serving on the boards of Palace Resorts Group, Sirran Communications, YipTV, Blackburn Technologies, and the Marquette Companies, a prominent real estate company. Mr. Foyo also served on the advisory board of the freight rail company Kansas City Southern. In his current role with PSG, |
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Mr. Foyo oversees a broad range of global initiatives in communications, real estate, energy, and health care. Mr. Foyos projects at PSG include the first solar facility in Mexico, a medical plaza in Cancun, and various engagements to analyze ICT acquisition targets. Mr. Foyo previously served as an advisor to CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Foyo holds a BA in international business and economics from Benedictine University in Illinois. A Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, Mr. Foyo also served as a reserve U.S. Embassy Attaché. |
The members of our Advisory Board will assist our management team with sourcing and evaluating business opportunities and devising plans and strategies to optimize any business that we acquire following the consummation of this offering. However, unlike our management team, our Advisors (who are not also officers or directors of the Company, except for Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir) are not responsible for managing our day-to-day affairs and have no authority to engage in substantive discussions with business combination targets on our behalf. Our Advisors may be paid by the Company or our sponsor, directly or indirectly, for services provided to us in connection with the search of business combination targets before or after the consummation of our initial business combination, and will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses including airfare, lodging and meal expenses. We have not currently entered into any formal arrangements or agreements with the members of our Advisory Board to provide services to us and they will have no fiduciary obligations to present business opportunities to us, except for Dr. Shaygan Kheradpirs fiduciary obligations as a director of the company.
In addition to Timothy M. Donahue and Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir, our management team will include Jeffrey L. Lomasky, Nicholas P. Robinson and Michael K. Palmer.
| Jeffrey L. LomaskyChief Financial Officer: Mr. Lomasky is the Chief Financial Officer and a Senior Managing Director of Cerberus Capital Management. Mr. Lomasky joined Cerberus in 1994. Prior to joining Cerberus, Mr. Lomasky was the Chief Financial Officer of New Street Securities from 1992 to 1994. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Lomasky was the controller of Drexel Burnham Lambert and from 1989 to 1990, he was the Chief Financial Officer of European activities for Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Lomasky previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Lomasky is a graduate of Bernard Baruch College. |
| Nicholas P. RobinsonCo-Chief Investment Officer: Mr. Robinson is a Managing Director and Cerberus Global Head of Trading. Mr. Robinson currently sits on Cerberus Corporate Credit Investment Committee. Cerberus Corporate Credit team has invested approximately $30 billion across industries, geographies, and asset classes since inception. Mr. Robinson helps manage several of Cerberus largest ICT investments. Mr. Robinson is a member of Cerberus Financial Risk Subcommittee and is involved in risk management for the firm globally. Mr. Robinson joined Cerberus in 2011 from Morgan Stanley where he was an Executive Director in the Distressed Credit Trading division. Mr. Robinson started his career in the Leveraged Loan Group at Goldman Sachs in 2004. Mr. Robinson previously served as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Robinson graduated from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada. |
| Michael K. PalmerCo-Chief Investment Officer: Mr. Palmer is a Managing Director at Cerberus within Cerberus private equity platform, which invests in global companies across various industries and geographies. In this role, Mr. Palmer helps support Cerberus private equity investments in healthcare, telecommunications and technology companies. Mr. Palmer has assisted in the identification of opportunities to collaborate with innovative managers and invest in sectors undergoing transformation. Mr. Palmer has also contributed to the development of Cerberus investing practice in emerging markets and he currently serves on Cerberus Emerging Markets Investment Committee. Mr. Palmer is also on the Board of Directors of Stratolaunch, an American aerospace company that |
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develops and operates technologies to fulfill national priorities; and AURA Network Systems, a company focused on developing a dedicated nationwide air-to-ground wireless communications network. Mr. Palmer previously served on the Board of Directors of Steward Health Care (an accountable care organization), Covis Pharma (a specialty pharmaceuticals company), PaxVax Global (a global specialty vaccines business), and Print Media Holdings (a division of YP Holdings, which was an advertising solutions platform that Cerberus carved out of AT&T). Mr. Palmer previously served as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021 and now serves as a member of the board of directors of KORE Wireless. Mr. Palmer is a graduate of Duke University. |
With respect to the above, past performance of our management team or our Advisors is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated or (ii) the ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team or their respective affiliates or our Advisors as indicative of future performance. See Risk FactorsPast performance by our management team or our Advisors or their respective affiliates will not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us. For a list of our directors and executive officers and entities for which a conflict of interest may or does exist between such directors and executive officers and the company, please refer to ManagementConflicts of Interest.
INDUSTRY OPPORTUNITY
While we may acquire a business in any industry, our focus will be on ICT in the United States and other developed countries. We believe ICT is attractive for a number of reasons.
| 5G Technology and Compelling Long-term Growth Prospects. As the World Economic Forum has stated, we believe 5G will change the world even more profoundly than 3G or 4G and be as revolutionary as electricity or the automobile. 5G promises to allow networks to harness data and machine learning for the purpose of more efficient control of physical processes that span every aspect of the economy. The technology allows for faster download speeds, lower latency, higher device density, higher reliability, and more network capabilities. Put simply, consumers will have access to better quality wireless communications, more data, and new services. Businesses will benefit from the same, as well as from machine-to-machine (so-called internet of things) capabilities that allow for real-time process optimization, critical information management, as well as certain machine learning / artificial intelligence applications. We believe that the 5G capital cycle will be longer than 4G or 3G and that it enables strong secular tailwinds. |
| Large Target Market Active in M&A. The sector has substantial actionable targets of meaningful scale that fit our acquisition criteria. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, over the past 5 years, the sector has benefited from robust global M&A deal flow with over 259 transactions completed between $1 billion and $10 billion, with a cumulative deal volume of over $670 billion. Additionally, private equity activity has ballooned, with ICT representing more than 27% of all private equity TMT M&A activity. In particular, alternative investment firms have raised telecom infrastructure funds, $98 billion of capital raised and $54 billion capital deployed across 52 funds since 2015. We expect such funds may seek to maximize investment performance through a business combination with us, as an alternative to an IPO. |
| Attractive Competitive Dynamics. Our management team believes that the complexity of the ICT industry acts as a barrier to entry, requiring investors to have significant sector-specific knowledge and expertise to identify and appropriately analyze investment opportunities. Technical knowledge, an understanding of the regulatory landscape, complex valuation methodologies, specialized accounting treatments, and regulatory and political considerations may deter competition from generalist firms. As |
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of this proposed offering, we believe few, if any, blank check companies exist with such a team able to focus squarely on this industry. |
| Consolidation Opportunities. Across multiple sectors within ICT, key players have looked to consolidate and scale to compete and deploy capital in the next generation of wireless and broadband technology. We believe that todays environment makes for sourcing a differentiated opportunity and consummating a business combination. |
BUSINESS STRATEGY AND ACQUISITION CRITERIA
Upon completion of this offering, we will communicate with our network of relationships to identify a target that complements the experience of our management and board of directors and can benefit from their operational, technological and investment expertise and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potential opportunities.
Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines.
We intend to focus our search for a business combination target on information and communications technology (ICT) and, in particular, ICT companies that benefit from the transformational, long-term impacts of capital deployment in the 5G stack. Such companies may include network operators (mobile operators, fiber operators, datacenters and tower companies), equipment vendors, device makers, semiconducter providers, IT and cloud services, network optimization, and ICT software and applications companies.
We intend to acquire one or more businesses that we believe:
| are growth-oriented, market-leading companies; |
| have a durable and/or defensible market position, with demonstrated competitive advantages to maintain barriers to entry; |
| have recurring, predictable revenues and the history of, or the near-term potential to, generate stable and sustainable free cash flow; |
| have strong management teams with a track record of driving growth and profitability, and would benefit from our managements network and expertise, capital structure optimization, acquisition advice or operational and technological changes to drive improved financial performance; |
| are fundamentally sound companies that may currently be underperforming their potential; |
| exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics, desirable returns on capital and a need for capital to achieve the companys growth strategy, that we believe have been misevaluated by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review; |
| will offer an attractive risk-adjusted return for our shareholders, potential upside from growth in the target business and an improved capital structure will be weighed against any identified downside risks; and |
| can benefit from being publicly traded, are prepared to be a publicly traded company and can utilize access to broader capital markets. |
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 criteria and
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guidelines as well as other considerations, factors, criteria and guidelines that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria and guidelines in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
In addition to any potential business candidates we may identify on our own, we anticipate that other target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
We believe that there will be growing capital needs among ICT companies based on rapid growth in the digital economy, specifically linked to 5G technology and innovation. We intend to target an asset with growing market presence, which would benefit from our investment and influence. We will utilize our ICT operating and investment teams, as well as Cerberus experience and resources, to address operational challenges, capital needs, and regulatory considerations to generate value post-closing.
| Experienced Alternative Asset Manager Through Multiple Economic Cycles. Since 1992, Cerberus has been a leader in global investing across the capital structure and multiple asset classes, including private equity, credit, and real estate. Since inception, Cerberus has invested over $135 billion of capital and today it has approximately $56 billion in assets under management across 26 offices globally. Since inception, Cerberus has successfully invested over $6 billion in ICT. |
| Skilled Operating Professionals with Relevant ICT Experience. Cerberus, through its affiliate, COAC, employs and or retains a large team of operating professionals and consultants, which together, form one of the largest dedicated, full-time operations teams in the industry. Cerberus also has an established advisory network of professional technology and telecom experts, who have led or held directorships in telecommunications companies globally (e.g., Nextel, Verizon, Nokia, and MTN). COAC and our advisors drive deal diligence and development, assist in sourcing, as well as provide significant expertise in operational planning and board oversight. |
| Best in Class ICT Team with Deep Knowledge of 5G Tech Stack. Members of our team have held various leadership positions at companies that pioneered, designed, built, and operated 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE systems worldwide. Several have analyzed and led construction of technology for the Department of Defense and U.S. Intelligence Community, including the Central Intelligence Agency. Many still advise leading companies and the U.S. government on all aspects of 5G technology, working with leading research and development labs to understand next generation capabilities. |
| Manager and Employees with Critical Insight and Alignment with U.S. Policy. Our team is deeply knowledgeable of U.S. policy objectives. Cerberus has a history of operating regulated businesses in the US, Europe and emerging markets. We maintain current and former members of various government bodies and advisor boards who provide expert testimony and guidance on regulatory matters. Former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle has been with Cerberus since 1999 and currently serves as Chairman of Cerberus Global Investments, LLC. Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John Snow has been with Cerberus since 2006 and currently serves as Chairman of Cerberus. Through Vice President Quayle, Secretary Snow and other key Cerberus leaders, we have regular and ongoing discussions with key leaders across governments, vendors, integrators, and operators. |
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OUR ACQUISITION PROCESS
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. We will also utilize our management teams operational, transaction, and capital planning experience along with resources from our affiliates, CTS and COAC.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or Advisors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or Advisors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Our officers, directors and Advisors may, directly or indirectly, own founder shares and/or private placement units following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, such officers, directors and Advisors 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.
We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have neither individually selected nor considered a target business nor have they had any substantive discussions regarding possible target businesses with our underwriters or other advisors. Our management team is regularly made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with our company. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.
Cerberus Technology Solutions, LLC
CTS is an affiliate of our sponsor and part of Cerberus proprietary operational platform. As described herein, CTS is entitled to fees and/or reimbursement of certain direct and allocable costs from us (including certain compensation costs and reasonable and customary incurred expenses) to the extent that members of CTS provide services to us before or after our initial business combination. CTSs services to our company, and the associated fee and expense terms, are or will be set forth in agreements that we enter into with CTS. CTS expects to generate a profit from its business relationships with us, and such profit may be material.
CTS, is a proprietary technology-focused operational affiliate of Cerberus, which today consists of 36 experienced business and technology executives who focus on deploying and implementing technology solutions to enhance processes and modernize business models across the Cerberus Funds and Accounts (as defined below), their respective investments and portfolio companies. CTS primary mandate is to apply leading technology solutions that can drive productivity and efficiency, realize new sources of revenue and value creation, and accelerate technological transformation and differentiation. CTS also helps to source, diligence, and operate new investments in technology and analytics companies. The core CTS team augments the Cerberus Funds and Accounts throughout the investment and ownership process to drive higher returns and increased efficiency. In a world that increasingly requires technological innovation and a faster pace of change, CTS allows
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Cerberus to proactively enhance the competitiveness of its portfolio companies and defensively fortify inherently sound businesses that suffered from lack of focus on technology.
The CTS team participates in identifying and performing diligence on investment opportunities where technological innovation can play a key role in driving value creation, a target universe that Cerberus believes is expanding at an accelerating pace. CTS seeks to add value through a number of ways:
| optimizing data collection and performing advanced analytics; |
| facilitating intelligence-driven decision-making; |
| identifying and staffing key talent to build or transform technology departments; |
| implementing organizational design and developing technology solutions; |
| rationalizing technology infrastructure and enabling use of Cloud Refactoring and modernizing legacy application; and |
| enhancing digital, mobile and e-commerce engagement. |
CTS has established operating units with both advisory and execution expertise within the following domains:
| Infrastructure Modernization |
| Data Unification and Management |
| Application Rationalization and Migration |
| Cybersecurity Assessment and Remediation Plan |
| Advanced Analytics |
| Digital and eCommerce |
| Emerging Technology |
| Payments |
We expect to be supported by CTS through entry into a master services agreement, pursuant to which CTS shall provide certain services designed to collaborate with clients and drive transformation and modernization by applying specialized capabilities and analytics to drive and address business and operational needs, including, among other things, a wide variety of consulting, data science, data analysis and technology development and management related services (the CTS Services) from time to time to us, which shall be specified in one or more statements of work, as agreed from time to time between us and CTS. Such statements of work shall include, among other things, a description of the agreed scope of work and details of billing rates, anticipated time commitments and expenses.
Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company
COAC is an affiliate of our sponsor and part of Cerberus proprietary operational platform. As described herein, COAC is entitled to fees and/or reimbursement of certain direct and allocable costs from us (including certain compensation costs and reasonable and customary incurred expenses) to the extent that members of COAC provide services to us before or after our initial business combination. COACs services to our company, and the associated fee and expense terms, are or will be set forth in agreements that we enter into with COAC.
COAC employs and or retains a large team of operating professionals and consultants who drive deal diligence and development, assist in sourcing, as well as provide significant expertise in operational planning and
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board oversight. Periodically, members of COAC also take temporary or indefinite positions on the management teams of Cerberus portfolio companies, particularly in cases, such as corporate divestitures, where the management team is not fully complete upon consummation of an acquisition. We believe that few, if any, other alternative investment managers maintain a staff of operating and execution resources of comparable size and differentiated and extensive experience. The business executives comprising COAC can be grouped into three general categories:
| former chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chief financial officers, or other senior leaders of large companies or of large business units of companies; |
| functional experts with significant operating experience managing specific business functions, such as strategy, commercial effectiveness (including new product development, branding, pricing, sales, marketing and communications), technology, human resources, supply chain, treasury, financial planning and analysis, risk management, or legal (including regulatory affairs and environmental, social and governance); and |
| individuals with middle management, project management, or operational enhancement and turnaround experience, many of them trained in disciplines such as Six Sigma and other quality or efficiency/productivity techniques. |
COAC team members collectively have operating expertise in a wide range of industries on a global basis, including, but not limited to, business services, telecommunications, media, financial services and technology. COAC will assist our management and other members of our board of directors with identifying suitable acquisition candidates, conducting due diligence and operational planning, negotiating and executing our initial business combination and, thereafter, helping to plan and execute value enhancing operational plans and initiatives.
We expect to be supported by COAC through entry into a master consulting and services agreement pursuant to which COAC will provide services to us, which are expected to include (among others) (i) providing operating executives to assist our officers, directors and Advisors with, among other things, identifying suitable acquisition candidates, conducting due diligence and operational planning, negotiating and executing a business combination with a target and, thereafter, helping to plan and execute value enhancing operational plans and initiatives (the Business Advisory Services) as agreed between COAC and us from time to time, and/or (ii) we may request that COAC supply one or more operations executives to serve as a corporate officer of us, any acquisition candidate or any of their respective affiliates (the Officer Staffing Services, together with the Business Advisory Services, the COAC Services) for a specified time period. COAC has the sole discretion to determine whether it will make the Officer Staffing Services available as requested by the Company. To the extent COAC agrees to supply the requested Officer Staffing Services, the terms and conditions of such arrangement shall be reflected in a separate form of agreement. All Services to be performed by COAC and its operation executives under the agreement shall be specified in one or more engagement letters, which shall include, among other things, a general description of the project, any applicable target dates or other milestones, and a short summary of any work product to be delivered in connection to the engagement, as applicable, and all estimated fees and charges applicable to such engagement.
INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
So long as our securities are then listed on the NYSE, 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 net assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target
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business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of a target business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if the board is less familiar or experienced with the target companys business, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the companys assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target business meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our shareholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to shareholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed transaction will include such opinion.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders 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-business combination company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination 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-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. 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 shareholders 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-business combination 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. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. If our securities are not then listed on the NYSE for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net asset test.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
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OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Cerberus manages multiple investment vehicles, and Cerberus will raise additional funds and/or successor funds in the future (collectively the Cerberus Funds and Accounts), which may be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. Although we intend to seek a business combination with a company that would not be an appropriate opportunity for the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, the Cerberus Funds and Accounts (and/or the portfolio companies of any of the foregoing) may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. However, we do not expect that this would adversely affect our ability to consummate our initial business combination because our investment mandate is different from the current investment mandate of the Cerberus Funds and Accounts. Accordingly, the potential targets for a business combination are not expected to be appropriate investments for the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, including, without limitation, because: (i) the expected risk-adjusted returns acceptable to us with respect to any potential business combination may not meet the investment parameters of the Cerberus Funds and Accounts; (ii) of differences then existing between Cerberus general private equity and other strategies and our business strategy; (iii) considerations associated with the potential targets for a business combination may not be appropriate for the Cerberus Funds and Accounts; (iv) the fact that the post-business combination entity will be a public company, which may not be an appropriate investment for one or more of the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, which are expected to generally target companies that are more suitable for an operational private equity investment program; and (v) certain other applicable portfolio construction and other considerations, as determined by Cerberus based on then-existing facts and circumstances.
In addition, certain of our officers, directors and Advisors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities, including, without limitation, the Cerberus Funds and Accounts and certain companies in which Cerberus or such entities have invested. As a result, if any of our officers, directors or Advisors 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 (including, without limitation, any Cerberus Funds and Accounts), then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity.
Additionally, if the Cerberus Funds and Accounts or other entities decide to pursue a specific opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. In particular, our management will present any prospective business combination targets to Cerberus private equity investment committee (or an additional investment committee for a new Cerberus Fund and Account established after the date hereof) to determine if such investment is appropriate and/or available for an investment by the Cerberus Funds and Accounts. Cerberus will determine which entities will be allocated any such business opportunity in accordance with its then-current policies and procedures and based on a number of factors, including the size of the target business, investment mandates of such entities, potential synergies and the other factors described herein. If it is determined that such investment is appropriate for the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, such opportunity will be pursued by such Cerberus Funds and Accounts in accordance with current policies and procedures and generally not the company. Certain investment opportunities may be suitable acquisitions by the Cerberus Funds and Accounts or by the portfolio companies of such Cerberus Funds and Accounts. If Cerberus believes, in its discretion, that an investment opportunity is better suited for acquisition by a portfolio company of a Cerberus Fund and Account than by us, Cerberus may offer such investment opportunity to such portfolio company, and consequently we may not participate in such opportunity as a potential business combination target. Cerberus generally seeks to have the Cerberus Funds and Accounts invest in investment opportunities that provide synergies to their existing businesses and assist in the overall profitability of such investments. It is possible that a potential business combination target may be considering an array of potential financing, monetization and/or other transaction opportunities, which may include, among other things, control or non-control equity investments, debt investments, a merger or asset sale, a traditional IPO or a combination with a SPAC and, to the extent that such business combination target determines not to pursue a combination with a SPAC and instead pursue one of these
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other opportunities, it is possible that one or more Cerberus Funds and Accounts may participate in such other transaction opportunity. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. However, we do not expect the aforementioned duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, Cerberus and our officers, directors, Advisors and COAC and CTS, are not required to commit any specified amount of time and resources to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time and resources among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. Each of Cerberus and our officers, directors, Advisors and COAC and CTS will allocate so much of their time and resources to us as in their judgment the management, operation, control, or conduct of our business reasonably requires. Moreover, Cerberus and certain of our officers, directors and Advisors have and will have in the future time and attention requirements for current and future Cerberus Funds and Accounts. Cerberus and certain of our officers, directors and Advisors further are expected to exercise investment responsibility on behalf of, or directly or indirectly purchase, sell, hold or otherwise deal with, any portfolio investment for the accounts of other businesses and the Cerberus Funds and Accounts. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between, on the one hand, us and, on the other hand, the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, Cerberus and its affiliates will resolve such conflicts of interest in their sole discretion in accordance with their then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties under Cayman Islands law and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor.
Our sponsor, officers, directors and Advisors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. However, we do not currently expect that any such other blank check company would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
CORPORATE INFORMATION
Our executive offices are located at 875 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022, and our telephone number is (212) 891-2100. We maintain a corporate website at . The information contained on or accessible through our corporate website or any other website that we may maintain is not part of this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and expect to receive, after the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS
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Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to emerging growth company have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act. Additionally, we are a smaller reporting company as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.
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THE OFFERING
In deciding whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled Risk Factors of this prospectus.
Securities offered |
25,000,000 units (or 28,750,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of: one Class A ordinary share; and one-third of one redeemable warrant. |
Proposed NYSE symbols |
Units: CTII.U |
Class A ordinary shares: CTII |
Warrants: CTII WS |
Trading commencement and separation of Class A ordinary shares and warrants |
The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless the representatives of the underwriters inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the Class A ordinary shares and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. |
Separate trading of the Class A ordinary shares and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K |
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering. If the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised |
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following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option. |
Units:
Number outstanding before this offering |
0 |
Number of private placement units to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering |
950,000(1) |
Number outstanding after this offering |
25,950,000(1) |
Ordinary shares:
Number outstanding before this offering |
7,187,500(2)(3)(6) |
Number outstanding after this offering |
32,200,000(1)(2)(4)(6) |
Warrants:
Number of private placement warrants underlying the private placement units to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering |
316,666(1) |
1 | Assumes no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 937,500 founder shares for no consideration. |
2 | Founder shares are currently classified as Class B ordinary shares, which shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described below adjacent to the caption Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we do not consummate an initial business combination. |
3 | Includes 937,500 founder shares that are subject to forfeiture to the extent the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option in full. |
4 | Includes 25,000,000 public shares, 950,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units to be sold in the private placement and 6,250,000 founder shares, assuming 937,500 founder shares have been forfeited. |
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Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the sale of private placement units |
8,649,999(1)(5)(6) |
Exercisability |
Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share, subject to adjustment as described herein. Only whole warrants are exercisable. |
We structured each unit to contain one-third of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, as compared to units issued by some other similar blank check companies which contain whole warrants exercisable for one whole share, in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of our initial business combination as compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. |
Exercise price |
$11.50 per whole share, subject to adjustments as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities (as defined below) for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our 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 our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the Market Value) is below $9.20 per share, and 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, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described adjacent to Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. |
Exercise period |
The warrants will become exercisable on the date that is 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination provided in each |
5 | Includes public warrants included in the units sold in this offering and 316,666 private placement warrants underlying the private placement units to be sold in the private placement. |
6 | Excludes private placement shares which may be issued upon our sponsors conversion of the outstanding principal on the overfunding loan. |
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case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement. 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. |
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 registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement provided that if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a covered security under Section 18(b) (1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of the initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we 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, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. |
The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account. |
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Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 |
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement 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, which we refer to as the 30-day redemption period; and |
| if, and only if, the last reported sale price (the closing price) of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders WarrantsAnti-Dilution Adjustments) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. |
If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis. In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our shareholders of issuing the maximum number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares as used in this section and in Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 above shall mean the average reported last sale price of our Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. See Description of Securities |
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Warrants Public Shareholders Warrants for additional information. |
None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us. |
Founder shares |
In February 2021, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain expenses on our behalf in consideration of 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. In November 2021, our sponsor surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, which decreased the number of outstanding Class B ordinary shares from 14,375,000 to 7,187,500. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share surrender or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 937,500 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor, depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised. |
The founder shares are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: |
| prior to our initial business combination, only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors and holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason; |
| the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; |
| our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they |
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hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame). If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete an initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our sponsors founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 8,900,001, or 35.6% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 850,001, or 3.4% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 25,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved; |
| the founder shares will automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described below adjacent to the caption Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; and |
| the founder shares are entitled to registration rights. |
Transfer restrictions on founder shares and private placement units |
Except as described herein, our sponsor and our management team have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell (i) any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) any of their private placement units, private placement shares, private placement warrants and Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our sponsor and management team with respect to any founder shares, private placement units, |
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private placement shares, private placement warrants and Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof. |
Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights |
The founder shares are designated as Class B ordinary shares and will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares, which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions if we do not consummate an initial business combination, at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon completion of this offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities (as defined herein) 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 Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement units or private placement shares issued to our sponsor, its affiliates or any member of our management team upon conversion of working capital loans or the overfunding loan, respectively. Any conversion of Class B ordinary shares described herein will take effect as a compulsory redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one. |
The term equity-linked securities refers to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for our Class A ordinary shares issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including, but not limited to, a private placement of equity or debt. |
Election of directors; Voting rights |
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at our shareholder meeting which shall include the affirmative vote of a simple majority of our Class B ordinary shares. |
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With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote. |
Overfunding Loan |
Simultaneously with the closing of this offering, a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be made to us by our sponsor for the purpose of overfunding the trust account. The loan will be convertible into private placement shares of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per share or repaid in cash upon the closing of our initial business combination at the option of our sponsor. The shares would be identical to the private placement shares underlying the private placement units to be issued to our sponsor in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of this offering. If we do not complete an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, the overfunding loan will only be paid out of funds available and held outside our trust account. |
Private placement units |
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 950,000 private placement units (or 1,025,000 private placement units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $10.00 per unit in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of this offering for an aggregate purchase price of $9,500,000 (or $10,250,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). The private placement units are identical to the units sold in this offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this prospectus. If we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan 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 units (and the underlying securities) will expire worthless. The private placement warrants included in the private placement units will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by their initial purchasers (except as described below under Principal StockholdersTransfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units). |
Cashless exercise of private placement warrants |
If holders of private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the Sponsor fair market value (as defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the Sponsor fair market value. |
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The Sponsor fair market value shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that restrict insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods. |
Proceeds to be held in trust account |
Of the proceeds we will receive from this offering, the sale of the private placement units described in this prospectus and the overfunding loan, which is a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to be made to us by our sponsor simultaneously with the closing of this offering for the purpose of overfunding the trust account, $255,000,000, or $293,250,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.20 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. The proceeds to be placed in the trust account include $8,750,000 (or $10,062,500 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions. |
Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, as discussed below and subject to the requirements of law and regulation, will provide that the proceeds from this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account (1) to us, until the completion of our initial business combination, or (2) to our public shareholders, until the earliest of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholders properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated our business combination within 18 months from the |
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closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (b) 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 consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders. |
Anticipated expenses and funding sources |
Except as described above with respect to the payment of taxes, unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Assuming an interest rate of 0.2% per year, we estimate the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $500,000 per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from: |
| the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $3,000,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $1,500,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and |
| any loans or additional investments from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, although they are under no obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances, and provided any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. |
Conditions to completing our initial business combination |
So long as our securities are then listed on the NYSE, 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 net assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity |
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that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. If our securities are not then listed on the NYSE for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net asset test. |
We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or is otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders 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 transaction. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-business combination 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, provided that in the event that 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 for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking shareholder approval, as applicable. |
Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities |
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors or their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, 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 held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or 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 nonpublic information not disclosed to the |
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seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationPermitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities for a description of how our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors or their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction. |
The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) 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, in cases where, among others, it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. 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 ordinary shares 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. |
Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination |
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account 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, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The |
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redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Further, we will not proceed with redeeming our public shares, even if a public shareholder has properly elected to redeem its shares, if a business combination does not close. Our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. |
Limitations on redemptions |
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SECs penny stock rules). However, a greater net tangible asset or cash requirement may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. Furthermore, although we will not redeem shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to fall below $5,000,001, we do not have a maximum redemption threshold based on the percentage of shares sold in this offering, as many blank check companies do. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceeds the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination. |
Manner of conducting redemptions |
We will provide our public shareholders 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 shareholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will |
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seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval, while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons. |
If we hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, 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 shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our sponsors founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 8,900,001, or 35.6% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 850,001, or 3.4% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 25,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require that at least five days notice will be given of any such shareholder meeting. |
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If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association: |
| conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
| file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act. |
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination. |
Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold shareholder vote |
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder 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 memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public |
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shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holders 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 shareholders ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those shareholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination. |
Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination |
On the completion of our initial business combination, the funds held in the trust account will be disbursed directly by the trustee to pay amounts due to any public shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights as described above adjacent to the caption Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination, to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or the redemption of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. |
Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination |
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we will have only 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate our initial business combination. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this 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 |
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previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands 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 consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering. |
Our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame). |
The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares. |
Our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares; unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary 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, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described above adjacent to the caption Limitations on redemptions. For example, our board of directors may propose such an amendment if it determines that additional time is necessary to |
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complete our initial business combination. In such event, we will conduct a proxy solicitation and distribute proxy materials pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act seeking shareholder approval of such proposal and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon shareholder approval of such amendment. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsor, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person. |
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. |
Limited payments to insiders |
There will be no finders fees, reimbursements or cash payments made by the company to our sponsor, officers or directors, or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination: |
| repayment of up to an aggregate of $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
| COAC and CTS, which are affiliates of our sponsor and certain of our officers and directors, will be entitled to fees and/or certain direct and allocable compensation costs, as well as reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses, to the extent that members of COAC or CTS provide services to us before our initial business combination (see SummaryOur Acquisition ProcessCerberus Operations and Advisory Company and Cerberus Technology Solutions); |
| Our Advisors (including Dr. Kheradpir) may be be paid by us or our sponsor, directly or indirectly, for services provided to us in connection with the search of business combination targets before or after the consummation of our initial business combination, and will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses including airfare, lodging and meal expenses; |
| reimbursement for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor, in the amount of $10,000 per month; Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination; |
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| repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the private placement units. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans; and |
| repayment of the overfunding loan, which is a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to be made to us by our sponsor simultaneously with the closing of this offering for the purpose of overfunding the trust account. The loan will be convertible into private placement shares of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per share or repaid in cash upon the closing of our initial business combination at the option of our sponsor. |
Any such payments will be made either (i) prior to our initial business combination using proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units held outside the trust account, the overfunding loan or from loans made to us by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors or (ii) in connection with or after the consummation of our initial business combination. |
Audit Committee |
We will establish and maintain an audit committee, which will be composed entirely of independent directors. Among its responsibilities, the audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or their affiliates and monitor compliance with the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to promptly take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section entitled Management Committees of the Board of DirectorsAudit Committee. |
RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
| We are a recently incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
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| Past performance by our management team or our Advisors or their respective affiliates will not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us. |
| Our shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our shareholders do not support such a 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. |
| If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor and members of our management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote. |
| The ability of our public shareholders 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 shareholders 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 consummate an initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of this offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders. |
| 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. |
| If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public float of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants. |
| Certain of our officers and directors have or will have direct and indirect economic interests in us and/or our sponsor after the consummation of this offering and such interests may potentially conflict with those of our public shareholders as we evaluate and decide whether to recommend a potential business combination to our public shareholders. |
| If a shareholder 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. |
| 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 sponsor may control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support. |
| 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. |
| You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
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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 have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. |
| If the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for the 18 months following the closing of this offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and our ability to complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination. |
| The other risks and uncertainties discussed in Risk Factors and elsewhere in this prospectus. |
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The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.
September 30, 2021 | ||||||||
Actual | As Adjusted | |||||||
Balance Sheet Data: |
||||||||
Working capital (deficiency)(1) |
$ | (517,541 | ) | $ | 249,266,089 | |||
Total assets(2) |
$ | 533,630 | $ | 258,016,089 | ||||
Total liabilities(3) |
$ | 517,541 | $ | 13,750,000 | ||||
Value of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption(4) |
$ | | $ | 255,000,000 | ||||
Shareholders equity (deficit)(5) |
$ | 16,089 | $ | (10,733,911 | ) |
We will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation and a majority of the outstanding ordinary shares voted are voted in favor of the business combination (if a vote is required or being obtained).
(1) | The as adjusted calculation includes $255,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering, the ovefunding note, and the sale of the private placement units, plus $3,000,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $16,089 of actual shareholders equity as of September 30, 2021, less $8,750,000 of deferred underwriting commissions. |
(2) | The as adjusted calculation includes $255,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding note, plus $3,000,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $16,089 of actual shareholders equity as of September 30, 2021. |
(3) | The as adjusted calculation includes $8,750,000 of deferred underwriting commissions and $5,000,000 from the ovefunding note, assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised. |
(4) | The as adjusted calculation equals the as adjusted total assets, less the as adjusted total liabilities, less the as adjusted shareholders equity. |
(5) | Excludes 25,000,000 public shares which are subject to redemption in connection with our initial business combination. The as adjusted calculation equals the as adjusted total assets, less the as adjusted total liabilities, less the value of the Class A ordinary shares that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination (initially $10.20 per share). |
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An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
Our shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote before we complete our initial business combination if the business combination would not require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. For instance, if we were seeking to acquire a target business where the consideration we were paying in the transaction was all cash, we would typically not be required to seek shareholder approval to complete such a transaction. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders 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 shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Please see the section entitled Proposed BusinessShareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination for additional information.
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 any target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder approval. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor and members of our management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our sponsor will own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) immediately following the completion of this offering.
Our sponsor and members of our management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination.
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Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting are voted in favor of the business combination. As a result, in addition to our sponsors founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 8,900,001, or 35.6% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 850,001, or 3.4% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 25,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our sponsor and each member of our management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
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 shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder 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 consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder 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.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders 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 (so that we do not then become subject to the SECs penny stock rules). Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public shareholders 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.
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At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders 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 a large number of shares are submitted for redemption, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for additional third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public shareholders 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 our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we consummate an initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of this offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the time frame 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.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent COVID-19 outbreak and other matters of global concern.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 a pandemic. A significant outbreak of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and other matters of global concern 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 restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target companys personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and
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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, other infectious diseases, 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.
We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of this offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate an initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of this 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.
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 consummated an initial business combination within such applicable 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, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. In either such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.20 per public share, or less than $10.20 per public share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.20 per public share and other risk factors herein.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public float of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. 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 public shares or warrants in such transactions.
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In the event that our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) 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. 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 ordinary shares 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. 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. See Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationPermitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities for a description of how our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors or their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
If a shareholder 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 shareholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationTendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.
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 target 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.
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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 have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan, 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 shareholder 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 have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.20 per public share and other risk factors herein.
If the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for the 18 months following the closing of this offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and our ability to complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan, only approximately $3,000,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together with funds available from loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 18 months following the closing of this offering; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate, and our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team are under no obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Of the funds available to us, we expect to use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a no-shop provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from shopping around for transactions with other companies 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 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.
In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,500,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, unless funded by the proceeds of loans available from our
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sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team 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 $1,500,000, 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, its affiliates, members of our management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor their affiliates is under any obligation to us in such circumstances. Any such advances may 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 $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the private placement units. In addition to any working capital loans and the overfunding loan, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team prior to the completion of our initial business combination 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 have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period 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 shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.20 per public share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.20 per public share and other risk factors herein.
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 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 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.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders 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. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any
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distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable for a fine of $18,292.68 and imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
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 the NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or shareholder meetings to elect directors. Until we hold an annual meeting of shareholders, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to elect directors and to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of shareholders) serving a three-year term.
Unlike some other similarly structured blank check companies, our sponsor will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we fail to consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon completion of this offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement units and private placement shares issued to our sponsor, any of its affiliates or any members of our management team upon conversion of working capital loans and the overfunding loan, respectively. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one. This is different than some other similarly structured blank check companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.
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 shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SECs penny stock rules). As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder 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 their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceeds the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
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In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check 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 memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a shareholder meeting of the company, 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 memorandum and articles of association will require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any 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.
Our sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support. Further, following the consummation of our initial business combination, one or more shareholders of the target may have a substantial interest in the combined company and may require us to enter into agreements or other arrangements with respect to board composition and/or designation rights.
Upon the closing of this offering, our sponsor will own, on an as-converted basis, shares representing approximately 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units). Accordingly, it may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our sponsor purchases any units in this offering or if our sponsor purchases any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase its control. Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. 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 term of three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders to appoint 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 initial 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 sponsor, because of its ownership position, will control the outcome, as only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of
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directors and to remove directors prior to our initial business combination. Accordingly, our sponsor will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. Further, in connection with our initial business combination, we may enter into an agreement or other arrangement with the shareholders of the target with respect to voting and other corporate governance matters following completion of the initial business combination, and such agreement or arrangement may provide for, or the target shareholders may require that such agreement provide for, nomination, designation or representation rights on the board of directors of the combined entity that may be not be proportionate to our shareholders or such target shareholders ownership interest in the combined company.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan 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 this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see Proposed BusinessComparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.
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 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
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though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.20 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 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 shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third-party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third-partys engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third-party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.20 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.20 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 $10.20 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
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 sponsors 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
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the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.20 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our 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 shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.20 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 $10.20 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, 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 shareholders may be reduced below $10.20 per public share.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, 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 shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders 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 shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, 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 shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, 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 shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
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 businesss operations.
Although we expect to focus our search for a target business in ICT in the United States and other developed countries, we may pursue business combination opportunities in any sector, except that we will not, under our
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amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target businesss 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 holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We may face risks related to business in the ICT industry.
Business combinations with businesses in the ICT industry entail special considerations and risks. If we are successful in completing a business combination with such a target, we may be subject to, and possibly adversely affected by, the following risks:
| if we do not develop successful new products or improve existing ones, our business will suffer; |
| we may invest in new lines of business that could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue; |
| we will face significant competition and if we are not able to maintain or improve our market share, our business could suffer; |
| the loss of one or more members of our management team, or our failure to attract and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could seriously harm our business; |
| if our security is compromised or if our platform is subjected to attacks that frustrate or thwart our users ability to access our products and services, our users, advertisers, and partners may cut back on or stop using our products and services altogether, which could seriously harm our business; |
| mobile malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks, spamming, and improper or illegal use of our products could seriously harm our business and reputation; |
| if we are unable to successfully grow our user base and further monetize our products or services, our business will suffer; |
| if we are unable to protect our intellectual property, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be seriously harmed; |
| we may be subject to regulatory investigations and proceedings in the future, which could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a way that could seriously harm our business; |
| components used in our products may fail as a result of a manufacturing, design, or other defect over which we have no control, and render our devices inoperable; |
| we will face complex and evolving government regulations; |
| an inability to manage rapid change, increasing consumer expectations and growth; |
| an inability to build strong brand identity and improve subscriber or customer satisfaction and loyalty; |
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| an inability to deal with our subscribers or customers privacy concerns; |
| an inability to license or enforce intellectual property rights on which our business may depend; |
| an inability by us, or a refusal by third parties, to license content to us upon acceptable terms; |
| potential liability for negligence, copyright, or trademark infringement or other claims based on the nature and content of materials that we may distribute; |
| competition for the leisure and entertainment time and discretionary spending of subscribers or customers, which may intensify in part due to advances in technology and changes in consumer expectations and behavior; |
| disruption or failure of our networks, systems or technology as a result of misappropriation of data or other malfeasance, as well as outages, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, accidental releases of information or similar events; and |
| our target company may have a significant need to raise capital to fund operations, serve customers and compete efficiently, and that capital may not be available on acceptable terms. |
Any of the foregoing could have an adverse impact on our operations following a business combination. However, our efforts in identifying prospective targets will not be limited to the ICT industry. Accordingly, if we acquire a target in another industry, these risks we will be subject to risks attendant with the specific industry in which we operate or target which we acquire, which may or may not be different than those risks listed above.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors outside of ICT, which may or may not be outside of our managements area of expertise.
Although we expect to focus our search for a target business in ICT in the United States and other developed countries, we will consider a business combination outside of ICT if a business combination target is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company or we are unable to identify a suitable candidate in ICT after having expended a reasonable amount of time and effort in an attempt to do so. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination target, 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 this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination target. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of ICT, our managements expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our managements expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders 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 all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that 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 shareholders may exercise their
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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 shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent accounting or investment banking 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 shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders 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 solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriters are entitled to receive deferred commissions that will released from the trust only on a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing. We may pay such underwriter or its affiliate fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arms length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with any of the underwriters or their respective affiliates and no fees or other compensation for such services will be paid to any of the underwriters or their respective affiliates prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless such payment would not be deemed underwriters compensation in connection with this offering. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The fact that the underwriters or their respective affiliates financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others, including COAC and
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CTS. 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, including the fees and/or certain direct and allocable compensation costs, as well as reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses, owed to COAC and/or CTS. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate a business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we 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 acquisition.
The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of a special resolution which requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a shareholder meeting of the company, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to the rights of a companys shareholders, without approval by a certain percentage of the companys shareholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the companys shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that any of its provisions related to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering, the private placement of units and the overfunding loan into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, meaning holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a shareholder meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 50% of our ordinary shares; provided that the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination may only be amended by a special resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at our shareholder meeting which shall include the affirmative vote of a simple majority of our Class B ordinary shares. Our sponsor and its permitted transferees, if any, who will collectively beneficially own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our Class A ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do
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not purchase any units in this offering and excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary 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, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. Our shareholders 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, directors or director nominees for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors contains provisions relating to transfer restrictions of the founder shares and private placement units and underlying securities, indemnification of the trust account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the trust account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval (although releasing the parties from the restriction not to transfer the founder shares for 180 days following the date of this prospectus will require the prior written consent of the underwriters). While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreement. Any such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing
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will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment may make it difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. 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. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account 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 shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target businesss management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target businesss management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target businesss 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 holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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 shareholders investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We 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 ordinary shares; |
| 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 ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
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| limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
| increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
| limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan (solely to the extent our sponsor converts the outstanding principal on the overfunding loan into private placement shares), which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from this offering, the sale of the private placement units and overfunding loan, which is a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to be made to us by our sponsor simultaneously with the closing of this offering for the purpose of overfunding the trust account and will provide us with up to $258,000,000 (or $296,250,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $8,750,000, or $10,062,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account and the estimated expenses of this offering).
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 (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and
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services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination through a corporate carve-out, 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.
In pursuing our initial business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination through a corporate carve-out. Corporate carve-outs can be difficult and costly to effectuate for a variety of reasons, including challenges inherent in separating out operations from the corporate parent, administrative costs and complexities associated with establishing service agreements with the corporate parent and potential delays or difficulties in meeting accounting standards for an independent public company. These risks could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (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 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.
If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 18 months before redemption from our trust account.
If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this 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 interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 18 months from the closing of this offering before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them,
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and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
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 currently not subject to. |
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading investment securities constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States government securities within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an investment company within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly
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tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares; or (iii) absent our completing an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders 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 have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Risks Relating to our Securities
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 public shareholders may be less than $10.20 per share.
The net proceeds of this offering, certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement units after estimated offering expenses and the overfunding loan, which is a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to be made to us by our sponsor simultaneously with the closing of this offering for the purpose of overfunding the trust account, in the amount of $255,000,000, or $293,250,000, if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full, will be held in an interest-bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in direct U.S. Treasury obligations having a maturity of 185 days or less, or in certain money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. Treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may withdraw to pay our taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income. If the balance of the trust account is reduced below $255,000,000, or $293,250,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full, as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.20 per share.
If we seek shareholder 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 shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder 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 memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the Excess Shares, without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders ability to vote all of their shares (including
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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.
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.
We have applied to have our units listed on the NYSE on the date of this prospectus and our Class A ordinary shares and warrants on or promptly after their date of separation. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or 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 market capitalization (generally $50,000,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders).
Additionally, our units will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination and, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE.
For instance, in order for our shares to be listed upon the consummation of our business combination, at such time our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our total market capitalization would be required to be at least $200.0 million, the aggregate market value of publicly held shares would be required to be at least $100.0 million and we would be required to have at least 400 round lot shareholders. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those listing requirements at that time.
If NYSE delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
| a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a penny stock which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as covered securities. Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than
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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.
Our sponsor contributed $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A ordinary shares.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A ordinary share and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per Class A ordinary share after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 108.0% (or $10.80 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $(0.80) and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination and would become exacerbated to the extent that public shareholders seek redemptions from the trust for their public shares. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A ordinary shares.
The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may significantly dilute the implied value of your public shares in the event we consummate an initial business combination, and our sponsor is likely to make a substantial profit on its investment in us in the event we consummate an initial business combination, even if the business combination causes the trading price of our ordinary shares to materially decline.
We are offering our units at an offering price of $10.20 per unit and the amount in our trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share, implying an initial value of $10.00 per public share. However, prior to this offering, our sponsor paid a nominal aggregate purchase price of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.003 per share. As a result, the value of your public shares may be significantly diluted upon the consummation of our initial business combination, when the founder shares are converted into public shares. For example, the following table shows the dilutive effect of the founder shares on the implied value of the public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination assuming that our equity value at that time is $258,000,000, which is the amount we would have for our initial business combination in the trust account assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised, no interest is earned on the funds held in the trust account, and no public shares are redeemed in connection with our initial business combination, and without taking into account any other potential impacts on our valuation at such time, such as the trading price of our public shares, the business combination transaction costs (including payment of $8,750,000 of deferred underwriting commissions), any equity issued or cash paid to the targets sellers or other third parties, or the targets business itself, including its assets, liabilities, management and prospects, as well as the value of our public and private warrants. At such valuation, each of our ordinary shares would have an implied value of
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$8.01 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, which is a 21.4% decrease as compared to the initial implied value per public share of $10.20.
Public shares |
25,000,000 | |||
Founder shares(1) |
6,250,000 | |||
Shares underlying the private placement units |
950,000 | |||
Total shares |
32,200,000 | |||
Total funds in trust available for initial business combination |
$ | 258,000,000 | ||
Initial implied value per public share |
$ | 10.20 | ||
Implied value per share upon consummation of initial business combination |
$ | 8.01 |
(1) | Assumes over-allotment option has not been exercised and 937,500 shares were forfeited by our sponsor. |
The value of the founder shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our ordinary at such time is substantially less than $10.20 per share.
Upon the closing of this offering, our sponsor will have invested in us an aggregate of $9,525,000, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares and the $9,500,000 purchase price for the private placement units assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised. Assuming a trading price of $10.00 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination and the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised, the 6,250,000 founder shares would have an aggregate implied value of $62,500,000. Even if the trading price of our ordinary shares were as low as $1.53 per share, and the shares underlying the private placement units are worthless, the value of the founder shares would be equal to the sponsors initial investment in us. As a result, our sponsor is likely to be able to make a substantial profit on its investment in us at a time when our public shares have lost significant value. Accordingly, our management team, which owns interests in our sponsor, may be more willing to pursue a business combination with a riskier or less-established target business than would be the case if our sponsor had paid the same per share price for the founder shares as our public shareholders paid for their public shares.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares 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 memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will authorize the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 474,050,000 and 43,750,000 (assuming in each case that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, 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 ordinary shares, if any. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we fail to consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Immediately after this offering, there will be no preference shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business
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combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary 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 as set forth herein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide, among other things, that prior to or in connection with 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 on any initial business combination or on any other proposal presented to shareholders prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:
| may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
| may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
| could cause a change in control if a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; |
| may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; |
| may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and |
| may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any election of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
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 our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision, (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares 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
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affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding 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 ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading Description of Securities Warrants Public Shareholders Warrants Anti-Dilution Adjustments) 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.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We will be issuing public warrants to purchase 8,333,333 of our Class A ordinary shares (or up to 9,583,333 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement 950,000 private placement units (or 1,025,000 private placement units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) and will have 316,666 underlying private placement warrants (or up to 341,666 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full). In addition, if our sponsor, its affiliates or a member of our management team makes any working capital loans, it may convert up to $2,000,000 of such loans into up 200,000 private placement units of the post-business combination entity, at a price of $10.00 per unit, with 66,666 private placement warrants underlying the private placement units. Further, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, our sponsor will make a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan to us in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), all of which may be convertible into 500,000 private placement shares (or 575,000 private placement shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per share or repaid in cash upon the closing of our initial business combination at the option of our sponsor.
To the extent we issue ordinary shares for any reason, including to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
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Because each unit contains one-third of one redeemable warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit contains one-third of one redeemable warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will 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 Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole 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- half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses.
Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if a unit included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
If (i) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described below under Description of Securities Warrants Public Shareholders Warrants Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within 20 business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with 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 this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A ordinary shares and warrants underlying the units, include:
| the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies; |
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| prior offerings of those companies; |
| our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values; |
| a review of debt-to-equity ratios in leveraged transactions; |
| our capital structure; |
| an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies; |
| general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and |
| other factors as were deemed relevant. |
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
There is currently no market for our securities. Shareholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions will include a staggered board of directors, the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our Class B ordinary shares, which have been issued to our sponsor, are entitled to vote on the election of directors, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
The grant of registration rights to our sponsor may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units, the private placement warrants underlying the private placement units and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, the private placement warrants underlying the private placement units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such warrants and the private placement shares that may be issued upon conversion of the outstanding principal on the overfunding loan. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder shares and the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such private placement warrants. 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 ordinary shares. In addition, the existence
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of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders 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 securities that is expected when the securities owned by our sponsor or its permitted transferees are registered for resale.
Risks Relating to our Sponsor and 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.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our 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, director 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 personnels 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. In addition, pursuant to an agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as our sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement, which is described under the section of this prospectus entitled Description of SecuritiesRegistration and Shareholder Rights.
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The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination targets key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidates 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 candidates 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 executive officers, directors and Advisors 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, directors and Advisors 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, directors and Advisors is engaged or may become engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers, directors and Advisors are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve and may in the future serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers, directors and Advisors other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers and directors other business affairs, please see ManagementOfficers, Directors and Director Nominees.
Our officers, directors and Advisors presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers, directors and Advisors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including, without limitation, the Cerberus Funds and Accounts and certain companies in which Cerberus or such entities have invested, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he, she or it has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations (including, without limitation, any Cerberus Funds and Accounts), then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he, she or it will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If the Cerberus Funds and Accounts or other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. With respect to the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, our management will present any prospective business combination targets to Cerberus private equity investment committee to determine if such investment is appropriate and/or available for an investment by the Cerberus Funds and Accounts. If it is determined that such investment is appropriate for the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, such opportunity will be pursued by such Cerberus Funds and Accounts in accordance with current policies and procedures and generally not the company. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity (including any business combination opportunity) offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we determine in our discretion is appropriate for us and which we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
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For a complete discussion of our executive officers and directors business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see ManagementOfficers, Directors and Director Nominees, ManagementConflicts of Interest and Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.
Our executive officers, directors, Advisors, 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, Advisors, 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 shareholders best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders rights. See the section entitled Description of SecuritiesCertain Differences in Corporate LawShareholders Suits for further information on the ability to bring such claims. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
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, initial shareholders or Advisors 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 or directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under ManagementConflicts of Interest. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria and guidelines for a business combination as set forth in Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationEvaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. Upon the loss of control of a target business, new management may not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business,
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but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-business combination company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders 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 Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the companys shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
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 during or after this offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
In February 2021, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain expenses on our behalf in consideration of 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. In November 2021, our sponsor surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, which decreased the number of outstanding Class B ordinary shares from 14,375,000 to 7,187,500. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share surrender or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units). The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 950,000 private placement units (or 1,025,000 private placement units if the underwriters overallotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $10.00 per unit in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of this offering for an aggregate purchase price of $9,500,000 (or $10,250,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). If we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, the private placement units (and underlying securities) will expire worthless. Further, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be made to us by our sponsor for the purpose of overfunding the trust account. The loan will be convertible into private placement shares of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per share or repaid in cash upon the closing of our initial business combination at the option of our sponsor. The shares would be identical to the private placement units to be issued to our sponsor in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of this offering. If we do not complete an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, the overfunding loan will only be paid out of funds available and held outside our trust account. 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 18-month anniversary of the closing of this offering nears, which is the deadline for our consummation of an initial business combination.
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Certain of our officers and directors have or will have direct and indirect economic interests in us and/or our sponsor after the consummation of this offering and such interests may potentially conflict with those of our public shareholders as we evaluate and decide whether to recommend a potential business combination to our public shareholders.
Certain of our officers and directors may own membership interests in our sponsor and indirect interests in our Class B ordinary shares, private placement units and private placement shares which may result in interests that differ from the economic interests of the investors in this offering, which includes making a determination of whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. There may be a potential conflict of interest between our officers and directors that hold membership interests in our sponsor and our public shareholders that may not be resolved in favor of our public shareholders. See ManagementConflicts of Interest.
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 (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders 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 shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholders 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.
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.
The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combinations ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (run-off insurance). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
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General Risk Factors
We are a recently incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a recently formed company, incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Past performance by our management team or their respective affiliates will not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience or performance of our management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either: (1) our ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (2) success with respect to any business combination that we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of our management team or their respective affiliates as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward.
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.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
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
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other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders 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 ordinary shares held by non-affiliates 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.
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 ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30. 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.
Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the
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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 holders counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holders ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or executive officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by our Cayman Islands legal counsel that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is,
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contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the Class A ordinary shares and the one-third of a warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or courts. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants included in the units we are issuing in this offering is unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our ordinary shares suspend the running of a U.S. Holders (as defined below in TaxationUnited States Federal Income Tax ConsiderationsGeneral) holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A ordinary shares is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered qualified dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See the section of this prospectus captioned TaxationUnited States Federal Income Tax Considerations for a summary of the U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.
Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors, upon the listing of our shares on the NYSE, the NYSE may consider us to be a controlled company within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
After completion of this offering, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. As a result, the NYSE may consider us to be a controlled company within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. Under the NYSE corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a controlled company and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
| we have a board that includes a majority of independent directors, as defined under the rules of the NYSE; |
| we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committees purpose and responsibilities; and |
| we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committees purpose and responsibilities. |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder (as defined in the section of this prospectus captioned TaxationUnited States Federal Income Tax
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ConsiderationsGeneral) of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception and the timing of our initial business combination (see the section of this prospectus captioned TaxationUnited States Federal Income Tax ConsiderationsU.S. HoldersPassive Foreign Investment Company Rules). Depending on the particular circumstances the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a qualified electing fund election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules. For a more detailed discussion of the tax consequences of PFIC classification to U.S. Holders, see the section of this prospectus captioned TaxationUnited States Federal Income Tax ConsiderationsU.S. HoldersPassive Foreign Investment Company Rules.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Act, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes. Shareholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
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; |
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| tariffs and trade barriers; |
| regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
| unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
| longer payment cycles; |
| tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
| currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| rates of inflation; |
| challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| cultural and language differences; |
| employment regulations; |
| underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
| corruption; |
| protection of intellectual property; |
| social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
| regime changes and political upheaval; |
| terrorist attacks, natural disasters 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 combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in any such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and social conditions and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such countrys economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
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Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from seeking a business combination target.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this prospectus may constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management teams expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words anticipate, believe, continue, could, estimate, expect, intends, may, might, plan, possible, potential, predict, project, should, would and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:
| our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
| our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
| our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses; |
| our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
| our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
| our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; |
| the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
| our public securities potential liquidity and trading; |
| the lack of a market for our securities; |
| the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
| the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
| our financial performance following this offering. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading Risk Factors. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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We are offering 25,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering, together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan, will be used as set forth in the following table:
Without Over-allotment Option |
Over-allotment Option Exercised |
|||||||
Gross proceeds | ||||||||
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1) |
$ | 250,000,000 | $ | 287,500,000 | ||||
Proceeds from overfunding loan(4) |
5,000,000 | 5,750,000 | ||||||
Gross proceeds from private placement units offered in the private placement |
9,500,000 | 10,250,000 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total gross proceeds |
$ | 264,500,000 | $ | 303,500,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Estimated offering expenses(2) |
||||||||
Underwriting commissions (2.0% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion)(3) |
$ | 5,000,000 | $ | 5,750,000 | ||||
Legal fees and expenses |
400,000 | 400,000 | ||||||
Printing and engraving expenses |
40,000 | 40,000 | ||||||
Accounting fees and expenses |
53,500 | 53,500 | ||||||
SEC/FINRA Expenses |
97,025 | 97,025 | ||||||
Travel and road show |
25,000 | 25,000 | ||||||
NYSE listing and filing fees |
85,000 | 85,000 | ||||||
Miscellaneous |
799,475 | 799,475 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total estimated offering expenses (excluding underwriting commissions) |
$ | 1,500,000 | $ | 1,500,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Proceeds after estimated offering expenses(4) |
$ | 258,000,000 | $ | 296,250,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Held in trust account(3)(4) |
$ | 255,000,000 | $ | 293,250,000 | ||||
% of public offering size |
102 | % | 102 | % | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Not held in trust account |
$ | 3,000,000 | $ | 3,000,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
The following table shows the use of the estimated $3,000,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account(5)(6)
Amount | % of Total | |||||||
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, and other expenses in connection with any business combination(7) |
$ | 1,400,000 | 46.7 | % | ||||
Director & Officers liability insurance premiums |
1,000,000 | 33.3 | % | |||||
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations |
160,000 | 5.3 | % | |||||
Payment for office space, administrative and support services |
240,000 | 8.0 | % | |||||
NYSE continued listing fees |
165,000 | 5.5 | % | |||||
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses and reserves |
35,000 | 1.2 | % | |||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total |
$ | 3,000,000 | 100.0 | % | ||||
|
|
|
|
(1) | Includes amounts payable to public shareholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination. |
(2) | A portion of the offering expenses will be paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to $300,000 as described in this prospectus. As of September 30, 2021, we have borrowed $230,848 under the promissory note with our sponsor. Any amounts that are borrowed will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other |
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than underwriting commissions) and not to be held in the trust account. In the event that offering expenses are less than as set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account. |
(3) | The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions of 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon and concurrently with the completion of our initial business combination, $8,750,000, which constitutes the underwriters deferred commissions (or $10,062,500 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account. See Underwriting. The remaining funds, less amounts released to the trustee to pay redeeming shareholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions. |
(4) | Simultaneously with the closing of this offering, our sponsor will make a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan to us in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) which shall be deposited in the trust account along with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units for the benefit of our shareholders whom elect to redeem their shares for cash. The loan is convertible into private placement shares of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per share or may be repaid upon the closing of our initial business combination at the option of our sponsor. |
(5) | These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our initial business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify a business combination target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Assuming an interest rate of 0.2% per year, we estimate the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $500,000 per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. |
(6) | Assumes no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option. |
(7) | Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a no shop provision and commitment fees for financing. Also includes any payments to be made to COAC and CTS, which are affiliates of our sponsor and certain of our officers and directors, and our Advisors (including Dr. Kheradpir), and will each be entitled to certain direct and allocable compensation costs, as well as reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses, to the extent that members of COAC or CTS or our Advisors provide services to us before our initial business combination (see SummaryOur Acquisition ProcessCerberus Operations and Advisory Company and Cerberus Technology Solutions). |
Of the $264,500,000 in proceeds we receive from this offering, the sale of the private placement units described in this prospectus and the overfunding loan, which is a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to be made to us by our sponsor simultaneously with the closing of this offering for the purpose of overfunding the trust account, or $303,500,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full, $255,000,000 ($10.20 per unit), or $293,250,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.20 per unit), shall be
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deposited into a trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, including $8,750,000, or up to $10,062,500 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full, in deferred underwriting compensation. We will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account, except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. Based on current interest rates, we expect that interest income earned on the trust account (if any) will be sufficient to pay our taxes.
The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or the redemption of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-business combination company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination.
We believe that amounts not held in trust, together with funds available to us from loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors although they are under no obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances.
We will reimburse our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team, in the amount of $10,000 per month. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Prior to the consummation of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of September 30, 2021, we have borrowed $230,848 under the promissory note with our sponsor. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 and the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the offering proceeds not held in the trust account.
Further, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, our sponsor will make a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan to us in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) which will be convertible into 500,000 private placement shares (or 575,000 private placement shares if ther underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per share or repaid in cash upon the closing of our initial business combination at the option of our sponsor.. The proceeds of this loan shall be deposited in our trust account along with the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement units.
85
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the private placement units. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, its affiliates or any members of our management team 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.
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We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we increase the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with a business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
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The difference between the public offering price per Class A ordinary share, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per Class A ordinary share after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the private placement units, which would cause the actual dilution to the public shareholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A ordinary shares which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
At September 30, 2021, our net tangible book deficit was $(517,541), or approximately $(0.07) per ordinary share. After giving effect to the sale of 25,000,000 Class A ordinary shares included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 28,750,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the private placement units and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at September 30, 2021 would have been $(5,733,911) or $(0.80) per share (or $(7,046,411) or $(0.86) per share if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of 25,000,000 Class A ordinary shares that may be redeemed for cash, or 28,750,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $(0.73) per share (or $(0.79) per share if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our sponsor as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution to public shareholders from this offering of $10.80 per public share (or $10.86 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full).
The following table illustrates the dilution to the public shareholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement units:
No exercise of over-allotment option |
Exercise of over-allotment option in full |
|||||||
Public offering price |
$ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Net tangible book value before this offering |
(0.07 | ) | (0.07 | ) | ||||
Increase attributable to public shareholders |
(0.73 | ) | (0.79 | ) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement units |
(0.80 | ) | (0.86 | ) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Dilution to public shareholders |
$ | 10.80 | $ | 10.86 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Percentage of dilution to public shareholders |
108.0 | % | 108.6 | % | ||||
|
|
|
|
For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option) by $255,000,000 because holders of up to approximately 100% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares).
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The following table sets forth information with respect to our sponsor and the public shareholders:
Shares Purchased | Total Consideration | Average Price per share |
||||||||||||||||||
Number | Percentage | Amount | Percentage | |||||||||||||||||
Class B Ordinary Shares(1) |
6,250,000 | 19.4 | % | $ | 25,000 | 0.01 | % | $ | 0.004 | |||||||||||
Private Placement Sharesholders |
950,000 | 3.0 | % | $ | 9,500,000 | 3.66 | % | $ | 10.00 | |||||||||||
Public Shareholders |
25,000,000 | 77.6 | % | $ | 250,000,000 | 99.99 | % | $ | 10.00 | |||||||||||
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|
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|
|||||||||||||
32,200,000 | 100.0 | % | $ | 250,025,000 | 100.00 | % | ||||||||||||||
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|
|
|
|
|
|
(1) | Assumes no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 937,500 Class B ordinary shares held by our sponsor. |
The pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering is calculated as follows:
Without Over-allotment |
With Over-allotment |
|||||||
Numerator: |
||||||||
Net tangible book deficit before this offering |
$ | (517,541 | ) | $ | (517,541 | ) | ||
Net proceeds from this offering, the overfunding loan, and sale of the private placement units(1) |
258,000,000 | 296,250,000 | ||||||
Plus: Offering costs paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value before this offering |
533,630 | 533,630 | ||||||
Less: Deferred underwriting commissions |
(8,750,000 | ) | (10,062,500 | ) | ||||
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption(2) |
(255,000,000 | ) | (293,250,000 | ) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
$ | (5,733,911 | ) | $ | (7,046,411 | ) | |||
|
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|
|
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Denominator: |
||||||||
Class B ordinary shares outstanding prior to this offering |
7,187,500 | 7,187,500 | ||||||
Class B ordinary shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised |
(937,500 | ) | | |||||
Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered |
25,000,000 | 28,750,000 | ||||||
Class A ordinary shares included in private placement units |
950,000 | 1,025,000 | ||||||
Less: Ordinary shares subject to redemption |
(25,000,000 | ) | (28,750,000 | ) | ||||
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|
|||||
7,200,000 | 8,212,500 | |||||||
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|
|
(1) | Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of $1,500,000 and underwriting commissions of $5,000,000 or $5,750,000 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option (excluding deferred underwriting fees). See Use of Proceeds. |
(2) | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. In the event of any such purchases of our shares prior to the completion of our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption will be reduced by the amount of any such purchases, increasing the pro forma net tangible book value per share. See Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationPermitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities. |
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The following table sets forth our capitalization at September 30, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the sale of our units in this offering and the private placement units and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:
September 30, 2021 | ||||||||
Actual | As Adjusted(1) | |||||||
Note payablerelated party(2) |
$ | 230,848 | $ | | ||||
Deferred underwriting commissions |
| 8,750,000 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Overfunding Loan(3) |
| 5,000,000 | ||||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; 0 and 25,000,000 shares subject to possible redemption, actual and as adjusted, respectively(4) |
| 255,000,000 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted |
| | ||||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; 0 and 950,000 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 0 and 25,000,000 shares subject to possible redemption), actual and as adjusted, respectively |
| 95 | ||||||
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized; 7,187,500 and 6,250,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively |
719 | 625 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital |
24,281 | | ||||||
Accumulated deficit |
(8,911 | ) | (10,734,631 | ) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total shareholders equity |
$ | 16,089 | $ | (10,733,911 | ) | |||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total capitalization |
$ | 246,937 | $ | 258,016,089 | ||||
|
|
|
|
(1) | Assumes no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 937,500 Class B ordinary shares held by our sponsor. |
(2) | Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of September 30, 2021, we have borrowed $230,848 under the promissory note with our sponsor. This loan is non-interest bearing and payable on the date on which we consummate the offering. |
(3) | Pursuant to the offering, the company will receive an non-interest bearing and unsecured loan from the sponsor in the amount $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriterss over-allotment option is exercised in full). The loan will be convertible into 500,000 private placement shares, sold in a private placement, (or 575,000 private placement shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per share or repaid upon the closing of the initial business combination at the option of the sponsor. |
(4) | Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash at a per share price 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, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein whereby redemptions cannot cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. |
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MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on February 4, 2021 as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering, the private placement of the private placement units, the overfunding loan, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to any forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing or other sources.
The issuance of additional shares in a business combination:
| may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
| may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
| could cause a change in control if a substantial number of our Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; |
| may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; |
| may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and |
| may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
Similarly, if we issue debt or otherwise incur significant debt, it could result in:
| default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
| our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
| our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares; |
| 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 ordinary shares 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; |
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| increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
| limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, as of September 30, 2021 and February 10, 2021, we had no cash, and deferred offering costs of $533,630 and $55,274, respectively. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.
Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses and services provided by COAC and CTS. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through (i) $25,000 paid by our sponsor to cover certain of our offering costs in exchange for the issuance of the founder shares to our sponsor and (ii) the receipt of loans to us of up to $300,000 by our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. As of September 30, 2021, we have borrowed $230,848 under the promissory note with our sponsor. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting estimated offering expenses of $1,500,000, underwriting commissions of $5,000,000, or $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $8,750,000, or $10,062,500 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), (ii) the sale of the private placement units for a purchase price of $9,500,000 (or $10,250,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) and (iii) the non-interest bearing and unsecured loan in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to be made to us by our sponsor simultaneously with the closing of this offering for the purpose of overfunding the trust account will be $258,000,000 (or $296,250,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $255,000,000 (or $293,250,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes the deferred underwriting commissions described above. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. The remaining $3,000,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,500,000, 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 $1,500,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less taxes payable and deferred underwriting commissions), to complete our
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initial business combination. We may withdraw interest income (if any) to pay taxes, if any. Our annual tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the interest income earned on the amount in the trust account (if any) will be sufficient to pay our taxes. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the $3,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, as well as certain funds from loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team. We will use these funds to primarily 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.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business prior to our initial business combination, other than funds available from loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the private placement units. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, its affiliates or our management team as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $1,400,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations (including for such services provided by COAC and CTS before our initial business combination); $1,000,000 for director and officer liability insurance premiums; $160,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations; $240,000 for office space, administrative and support services; $165,000 for NYSE continued listing fees; and $35,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves.
These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a no-shop provision (a provision designed to keep target businesses from shopping around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a no-shop provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or
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otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.
Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account.
Controls and Procedures
We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor have our auditors tested our systems, of our internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:
| staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties; |
| reconciliation of accounts; |
| proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate; |
| evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions; |
| documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and |
| documentation of accounting policies and procedures. |
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
Once our managements report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target businesss internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.
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Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
Off-balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results
As of September 30, 2021 and February 10, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus as we have not conducted any operations to date.
JOBS Act
The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an emerging growth company and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an emerging growth company, we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditors attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditors report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the principal executive officers compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our initial public offering or until we are no longer an emerging growth company, whichever is earlier.
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Overview
We are a blank check company newly incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target. Our sponsor is an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., together with its affiliated management and general partner entities, operations companies and loan servicing companies (collectively, Cerberus).
Our sponsor was founded by Stephen A. Feinberg and certain senior executives of Cerberus. Stephen A. Feinberg founded Cerberus in 1992 and is currently its Co-Chief Executive Officer. Cerberus has become a global leader in alternative investing with approximately $56 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2020 and expertise in private equity, credit and real estate. Over the course of its history, Cerberus has developed a group of senior information and communications technology (ICT) executives and investors with a proven track record of leading, investing in and growing large, scaled enterprises.
Cerberus previously sponsored CTAC I, a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, which completed its business combination with KORE Wireless on October 1, 2021. KORE Wireless is a global leader in Internet of Things solutions and worldwide Connectivity-as-a-Service. The combined company operates as KORE Wireless and is listed on the NYSE under the new ticker KORE.
Timothy M. Donahue will serve as the Chairman of the board of directors and our Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Donahue has been a senior advisor to Cerberus operations group since 2009 and brings vast experience, deep relationships and strategic vision to investing in ICT. Mr. Donahue is the former Chairman of Sprint Nextel where he grew the companys market capitalization from approximately $16 billion to approximately $40 billion during the period from July 1999 to July 2005. Mr. Donahue is currently the Chairman of the board of directors of KORE Wireless, which merged with CTAC I through a business combination on October 1, 2021.
In addition to Mr. Donahue, our board of directors will include industry veterans Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir (former Chief Executive Officer of Juniper Networks and Coriant), who will also serve as our Chief Technology Officer and on our Advisory Board, Timothy Kasbe (President of Zoho Corporation Pty Ltd.), Dr. Hossein Moiin (former Chief Technology Officer of Nokia) and Robert C. Davenport (Head of Global Corporate Credit and Distressed Debt at Cerberus). We will also form an Advisory Board, which will play an instrumental role in sourcing and assessing technology of potential business combination targets and will be comprised of Dr. Kheradpir, Dr. Moiin, Shervin Gerami (Chief Executive Officer of TeleWorld) and Peter Foyo (former Chief Executive Officer of Nextel Mexico).
Jeffrey L. Lomasky (Chief Financial Officer of Cerberus for more than 26 years) will serve as our Chief Financial Officer. Nicholas P. Robinson and Michael K. Palmer, who help manage ICT investments for Cerberus, will serve as Co-Chief Investment Officers.
In addition to benefiting from the resources of our management, our board of directors, our Advisory Board, and the broader Cerberus organization, our sponsor will leverage Cerberus proprietary operational platforms, including Cerberus Technology Solutions, LLC (together with other similarly situated, affiliated entities, CTS) and Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company, LLC (together with other similarly situated, affiliated entities, COAC), which will be available to support our disciplined investment process and subsequent business management and strategic value creation initiatives following a business combination.
The company intends to target ICT companies that benefit from the transformational, long-term impacts of capital deployment in the 5G stack. Such companies may include network operators (mobile operators, fiber
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operators, datacenters and tower companies), equipment vendors, device makers, semiconductor providers, IT and cloud services, network optimization, ICT software and applications companies. Opportunities will be sourced from our management and Advisors and their extensive network of executives, investors, and advisors and the broader Cerberus organization. The company will target assets with growing market presence, which would benefit from our investment and influence. The company will seek to utilize its experienced team to address strategic opportunities, capital needs, and regulatory considerations.
Our Board of Directors and Management
Our selection process will leverage our managements and Advisors broad and deep relationship network, unique industry experiences and deal sourcing capabilities to access a broad spectrum of differentiated opportunities.
This network has been developed through our and Cerberus demonstrated success both investing in and operating businesses, developing a distinctive combination of capabilities including:
| a track record of creating and growing multi-billion dollar platforms in the private and public markets; |
| extensive M&A experience, including driving transformational transactions; |
| the ability to enhance and advise management teams as they transition from private to public markets; |
| experience driving capital allocation decisions at the corporate level; |
| an understanding of public market performance and requirements; |
| an extensive history of sourcing, structuring, acquiring, operating, developing, growing, financing and selling businesses; |
| deep relationships with company management teams (potential targets); investment banks and financial institutions; financial advisors, lawyers and consultants; ICT industry experts and other private equity firms; |
| experience deploying broad value creation strategies, including recruiting world-class talent and delivering operating efficiency by consistently exceeding synergy targets; and |
| an extensive history of accessing the capital markets across various business cycles. |
Our board of directors will include Timothy M. Donahue, Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir, Timothy Kasbe, Dr. Hossein Moiin and Robert C. Davenport.
| Timothy M. DonahueChairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer: Mr. Donahue served as the Chief Executive Officer of Nextel Communications Inc., a nationwide wireless telecommunications company, from 1999 until 2005, when Nextel was merged with Sprint Corporation to form Sprint Nextel Corporation. Thereafter, and until 2006, Mr. Donahue was the Executive Chairman of Sprint Nextel and the Chairman of the Sprint Nextel Corporation. From 1996 until his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Donahue served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nextel. During Mr. Donahues tenure at Nextel, Nextel experienced significant improvements in financial performance, including significant growth in revenues and EBITDA. Over that same period, the market capitalization of the company increased from approximately $16 billion to approximately $40 billion. Mr. Donahue started his telecommunications career with McCaw Cellular in 1986 as president of its paging division. Mr. Donahue is currently a member of the board of directors of Ligado Networks (wireless network) and AURA Network Systems (communications). Mr. Donahue is currently the Chairman of the board of directors of KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE), which completed a business combination with CTAC I on October 1, 2021, and previously served as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I. Mr. Donahue is a former director of ADT Corporation (home security) (formerly NASDAQ:ADT); Covidien plc (medical devices) (NYSE:COV); Eastman Kodak Company (imaging) (NYSE:KODK); Nextel Partners Inc. |
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(telecommunications); NVR Inc. (home builder) (NYSE:NVR); and Tyco International Ltd. (diversified) (formerly NYSE:TYC). Mr. Donahue also served on the board of John Carroll University and is the former chairman of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA). In 2004, Institutional Investor Magazine honored Mr. Donahue as the best chief executive officer in the telecommunications services and wireless sector based on ratings by investors and brokerage firm analysts. Mr. Donahue received his BA in English Literature from John Carroll University. |
| Dr. Shaygan KheradpirChief Technology Officer and Director Nominee: Dr. Kheradpir is best known for driving transformational change through technology innovation at Verizon where he was Group Chief Information Officer from January 2000 to December 2010, at Barclays Bank as Group Chief Operating Officer from January 2011 to December 2013, and at Juniper Networks from January 2014 to December 2014 and Coriant from September 2015 to June 2018 as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Dr. Kheradpir continues to work with high-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley, leading private equity firms, and national governments on 5G networks, next generation applications for the industrial internet, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and blockchain. Dr. Kheradpir was on the founding Executive Leadership Committee of Verizon, helping transform it from a phone company to a premier telecom company worldwide in super high-speed networks such as FiOS and 4G-LTE, in interactive multi-media, and in world-class customer service and internal automation. At Barclays, Dr. Kheradpir was Group Chief Operating Officer and on the banks Global Executive Committee, setting the course for 21st century industrialization in financial services. At Juniper, as Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kheradpir focused the company by creating and executing its Integrated Operating Plan (IOP), while becoming a premier cloudbuilder and creator of high IQ networks via cutting-edge networking technology, automation and machine learning. At Coriant, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kheradpir integrated and re-invented three predecessor companies of Tellabs, Siemens Optical, and Sycamore, creating the industry first Hyperscale Carrier Architecture (HCA) products, propelling Coriant to become the leading insurgent telecom equipment company worldwide across high-speed packet-optical and 5G networks. Dr. Kheradpir received his BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from Cornell University, served on the advisory board of US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is on the board of MTN Group (260 million wireless subscribers), and is on the Cornell University Engineering Council. Dr. Kheradpir previously served as the Chief Technology Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Dr. Kheradpir was inducted into the CIO Hall of Fame in 2006 and selected in 1990 as outstanding young engineer by US National Academy of Engineering (NAE). |
| Dr. Hossein MoiinDirector Nominee: Dr. Moiin has over 30 years of experience in the ICT sector. Dr. Moiin was Chief Technology, Innovation, and Strategy Officer for Nokia Mobile Networks from 2016 to 2018 where he was responsible for returning Nokia to profitability following the acquisition of the Alcatel Lucent wireless business and merging portfolios in a manner that minimized customer disruption. Dr. Moiin was also responsible for 5G and IoT, and for creating a roadmap from 4G networks encompassing technology and business models. Prior to that, Dr. Moiin was Chief Technology and Innovation Officer and a member of the Executive Board of Nokia from January 2012 to February 2016. Dr. Moiin previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Dr. Moiin also served in senior technology roles at British Telecom and T-Mobile. Dr. Moiin obtained his BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in Electrical and Computer Engineering. |
| Mr. Timothy KasbeDirector Nominee: Mr. Kasbe is President of Zoho Enterprise and is on the board of directors of Zoho Corporation Pty Ltd. (collectively, Zoho), a leading SAAS and PAAS company that operates in over 180 countries. Zoho has over one hundred products across customer experience, employee productivity and systems administration domains, serving over 70 million global |
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users. Mr. Kasbe has been a Chief Information Officer (CIO) many times over, managing multi-billion dollar budgets and teams of over 26,000 technologists supporting businesses across retail, finance high-tech and biotech. Mr. Kasbe built the technology platform at Reliance Industries Ltd. Reliance Jio Mart is the top technology and eCommerce retailer in India today. At Sears, Mr. Kasbe helped transform the traditional brick and mortar retailer into a leading online marketplace. At Precigen Inc., Mr. Kasbe worked with hundreds of scientists in developing a first of its kind synthetic DNA supply chain. Mr. Kasbe helped build the digital platform at Gloria Jeans, along with a transformation of the supply chain mechanics, resulting in continued growth for Gloria Jeans and The Warehouse Group. Mr. Kasbe led a startup called the market, now New Zealands eCommerce marketplace. Mr. Kasbe has led many engagements in investments, valuation, due diligence, and transformation at private equity firms over the past ten years. Additionally, Mr. Kasbe has supported and mentored numerous startups including Twine Health, Cloudant, Tamr, Intrexon, Mapkin, OpenBay, Vertica and Carta. In addition to Zoho, Mr. Kasbe also serves on the board of TAMR, Inc., an AI-based data cleansing and visualization company and Cargo Services Far East, one of the largest freight forwarders in China and Hong Kong. Mr. Kasbe is a board advisor to KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE). Mr. Kasbe previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from January 2021 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless on October 1, 2021. Mr. Kasbe has been named CIO 100, most innovative CIO, Influential CIO and CIO 100 in publications in India, USA, Russia and New Zealand. Mr. Kasbe was a distinguished visiting scholar at Stanford University from 2011 to 2018 and completed doctoral studies in ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Duke University in May 2020. Mr. Kasbe has volunteered with Good Shepherd Schools (child education), India, Chabad House (orphan care), Rostov on Don, Russia, Salvation Army (hunger cure), Russia and Youthline (teen suicide hotline), New Zealand. The Kasbe family are foster parents and have served with Asha Graahum, Mumbai, Safe Families, Chicago, Detski Dom, Russia in the past and currently serve with OrangaTamariki (foster care) in New Zealand. |
| Mr. Robert C. DavenportDirector Nominee: Mr. Davenport is Cerberus Head of Global Corporate Credit and Distressed Debt. Mr. Davenport is responsible for overseeing and managing Cerberus investments in stressed and distressed debt on a global basis. Mr. Davenport is also Chairman of the Corporate Credit Investment Committee. Since joining the firm in 1996, Mr. Davenport has played a significant role in building and establishing Cerberus core credit platform, which has invested approximately $30 billion across industries, geographies, and asset classes. In addition, Mr. Davenport has led the investment of multiple billions of capital per year during periods of market dislocation, such as the Asian Financial Crisis and the Great Financial Crisis. Mr. Davenport oversees a team of more than 25 dedicated investment professionals, who cover the United States, Europe, and emerging markets and have significant experience identifying and sourcing investment opportunities. During his tenure, Mr. Davenport has helped Cerberus develop new investment strategies that expand outside its core strategy of investing in stressed and distressed debt. Prior to Cerberus, Mr. Davenport was a principal at Vestar Capital Partners from 1990 to 1994, where he was responsible for identifying, analyzing and executing leveraged buyout opportunities. From 1988 to 1990, Mr. Davenport worked in the mergers and acquisitions group at Drexel Burnham. Mr. Davenport previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Davenport graduated from the University of California. Mr. Davenport is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, California. |
In addition to our board of directors, we will form an Advisory Board that includes Dr. Kheradpir, Shervin Gerami and Peter Foyo.
| Shervin Gerami: Mr. Gerami is the Chief Executive Officer of TeleWorld Solutions, a wireless services and consulting firm that was recently acquired by Samsung and the Founder/Former Chief Executive Officer of SmallCellSite.com, the first online and open marketplace for real estate for 4G and 5G networks. Mr. Gerami grew TeleWorld Solutions to over 400 employees, working with over 50 |
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clients, including Tier-1 wireless operators, MSOs, OEMs, media and IoT providers. Prior to TeleWorld Solutions, Mr. Gerami spent a decade working for Nextel, Sprint, and XOHM in various management and technical roles, including management of wireless networks across 3G and 4G. Mr. Gerami previously served as an advisor to CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Gerami holds a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee. Mr. Gerami has also completed executive education at Harvard and Wharton. |
| Peter Foyo: Mr. Foyo is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Principal Standard Group (PSG) where he develops and implements projects in sectors such as real estate, health care, energy, and communications. Mr. Foyo spent much of his career as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Nextel de Mexico. Mr. Foyo significantly increased the companys customer base, securing a significant share of the Mexican postpaid market in the process. Mr. Foyo helped the company garner several major industry awards and recognitions, including Socially Responsible Company for eight consecutive years and One of the Best Places to Work since 2007. Under Mr. Foyos leadership, Nextel de Mexico was awarded Pyramid Researchs (now Global Data) Latin Americas Mobile Operator of the Year award in 2003 and 2004. Mr. Foyo spent the early years of his career with AT&T Corporation, beginning as a product planner in the computer systems division and advancing to become a corporate strategy director. As a leader of the AT&T/Telecom Italia regional network plan for Latin America, he established working partnerships with major telecom organizations around the world. Mr. Foyo has held numerous board leadership positions over the course of his career, including serving on the boards of Palace Resorts Group, Sirran Communications, YipTV, Blackburn Technologies, and the Marquette Companies, a prominent real estate company. Mr. Foyo also served on the advisory board of the freight rail company Kansas City Southern. In his current role with PSG, Mr. Foyo oversees a broad range of global initiatives in communications, real estate, energy, and health care. Mr. Foyos projects at PSG include the first solar facility in Mexico, a medical plaza in Cancun, and various engagements to analyze ICT acquisition targets. Mr. Foyo previously served as an advisor to CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Foyo holds a BA in international business and economics from Benedictine University in Illinois. A Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, Mr. Foyo also served as a reserve U.S. Embassy Attaché. |
The members of our Advisory Board will assist our management team with sourcing and evaluating business opportunities and devising plans and strategies to optimize any business that we acquire following the consummation of this offering. However, unlike our management team, our Advisors (who are not also officers or directors of the Company, except for Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir) are not responsible for managing our day-to-day affairs and have no authority to engage in substantive discussions with business combination targets on our behalf. Our Advisors may be paid by the Company or our sponsor, directly or indirectly, for services provided to us in connection with the search of business combination targets before or after the consummation of our initial business combination, and will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses including airfare, lodging and meal expenses. We have not currently entered into any formal arrangements or agreements with the members of our Advisory Board to provide services to us and they will have no fiduciary obligations to present business opportunities to us, except for Dr. Shaygan Kheradpirs fiduciary obligations as a director of the company.
In addition to Timothy M. Donahue and Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir, our management team will include Jeffrey L. Lomasky, Nicholas P. Robinson and Michael K. Palmer.
| Jeffrey L. LomaskyChief Financial Officer: Mr. Lomasky is the Chief Financial Officer and a Senior Managing Director of Cerberus Capital Management. Mr. Lomasky joined Cerberus in 1994. Prior to joining Cerberus, Mr. Lomasky was the Chief Financial Officer of New Street Securities from 1992 to 1994. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Lomasky was the controller of Drexel Burnham Lambert and from 1989 to 1990, he was the Chief Financial Officer of European activities for Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Lomasky previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of CTAC I from October 2020 |
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until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Lomasky is a graduate of Bernard Baruch College. |
| Nicholas P. RobinsonCo-Chief Investment Officer: Mr. Robinson is a Managing Director and Cerberus Global Head of Trading. Mr. Robinson currently sits on Cerberus Corporate Credit Investment Committee. Cerberus Corporate Credit team has invested approximately $30 billion across industries, geographies, and asset classes since inception. Mr. Robinson helps manage several of Cerberus largest ICT investments. Mr. Robinson is a member of Cerberus Financial Risk Subcommittee and is involved in risk management for the firm globally. Mr. Robinson joined Cerberus in 2011 from Morgan Stanley where he was an Executive Director in the Distressed Credit Trading division. Mr. Robinson started his career in the Leveraged Loan Group at Goldman Sachs in 2004. Mr. Robinson previously served as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Robinson graduated from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada. |
| Michael K. PalmerCo-Chief Investment Officer: Mr. Palmer is a Managing Director at Cerberus within Cerberus private equity platform, which invests in global companies across various industries and geographies. In this role, Mr. Palmer helps support Cerberus private equity investments in healthcare, telecommunications and technology companies. Mr. Palmer has assisted in the identification of opportunities to collaborate with innovative managers and invest in sectors undergoing transformation. Mr. Palmer has also contributed to the development of Cerberus investing practice in emerging markets and he currently serves on Cerberus Emerging Markets Investment Committee. Mr. Palmer is also on the Board of Directors of Stratolaunch, an American aerospace company that develops and operates technologies to fulfill national priorities; and AURA Network Systems, a company focused on developing a dedicated nationwide air-to-ground wireless communications network. Mr. Palmer previously served on the Board of Directors of Steward Health Care (an accountable care organization), Covis Pharma (a specialty pharmaceuticals company), PaxVax Global (a global specialty vaccines business), and Print Media Holdings (a division of YP Holdings, which was an advertising solutions platform that Cerberus carved out of AT&T). Mr. Palmer previously served as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021 and now serves as a member of the board of directors of KORE Wireless. Mr. Palmer is a graduate of Duke University. |
With respect to the above, past performance of our management team or our Advisors is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated or (ii) the ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team or their respective affiliates or our Advisors as indicative of future performance. See Risk FactorsPast performance by our management team or our Advisors or their respective affiliates will not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us. For a list of our directors and executive officers and entities for which a conflict of interest may or does exist between such directors and executive officers and the company, please refer to ManagementConflicts of Interest.
Industry Opportunity
While we may acquire a business in any industry, our focus will be on ICT in the United States and other developed countries. We believe ICT is attractive for a number of reasons.
| 5G Technology and Compelling Long-term Growth Prospects. As the World Economic Forum has stated, we believe 5G will change the world even more profoundly than 3G or 4G and be as revolutionary as electricity or the automobile. 5G promises to allow networks to harness data and machine learning for the purpose of more efficient control of physical processes that span every aspect of the economy. The technology allows for faster download speeds, lower latency, higher device density, higher reliability, and more network capabilities. Put simply, consumers will have access to |
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better quality wireless communications, more data, and new services. Businesses will benefit from the same, as well as from machine-to-machine (so-called internet of things) capabilities that allow for real-time process optimization, critical information management, as well as certain machine learning / artificial intelligence applications. We believe that the 5G capital cycle will be longer than 4G or 3G and that it enables strong secular tailwinds. |
| Large Target Market Active in M&A. The sector has substantial actionable targets of meaningful scale that fit our acquisition criteria. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, over the past 5 years, the sector has benefited from robust global M&A deal flow with over 259 transactions completed between $1 billion and $10 billion, with a cumulative deal volume of over $670 billion. Additionally, private equity activity has ballooned, with ICT representing more than 27% of all private equity TMT M&A activity. In particular, alternative investment firms have raised telecom infrastructure funds, $98 billion of capital raised and $54 billion capital deployed across 52 funds since 2015. We expect such funds may seek to maximize investment performance through a business combination with us, as an alternative to an IPO. |
| Attractive Competitive Dynamics. Our management team believes that the complexity of the ICT industry acts as a barrier to entry, requiring investors to have significant sector-specific knowledge and expertise to identify and appropriately analyze investment opportunities. Technical knowledge, an understanding of the regulatory landscape, complex valuation methodologies, specialized accounting treatments, and regulatory and political considerations may deter competition from generalist firms. As of this proposed offering, we believe few, if any, blank check companies exist with such a team able to focus squarely on this industry. |
| Consolidation Opportunities. Across multiple sectors within ICT, key players have looked to consolidate and scale to compete and deploy capital in the next generation of wireless and broadband technology. We believe that todays environment makes for sourcing a differentiated opportunity and consummating a business combination. |
Business Strategy and Acquisition Criteria
Upon completion of this offering, we will communicate with our network of relationships to identify a target that complements the experience of our management and board of directors and can benefit from their operational, technological and investment expertise and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potential opportunities.
Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines.
We intend to focus our search for a business combination target on information and communications technology (ICT) and, in particular, ICT companies that benefit from the transformational, long-term impacts of capital deployment in the 5G stack. Such companies may include network operators (mobile operators, fiber operators, datacenters and tower companies), equipment vendors, device makers, semiconducter providers, IT and cloud services, network optimization, and ICT software and applications companies.
We intend to acquire one or more businesses that we believe:
| are growth-oriented, market-leading companies; |
| have a durable and/or defensible market position, with demonstrated competitive advantages to maintain barriers to entry; |
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| have recurring, predictable revenues and the history of, or the near-term potential to, generate stable and sustainable free cash flow; |
| have strong management teams with a track record of driving growth and profitability, and would benefit from our managements network and expertise, capital structure optimization, acquisition advice or operational and technological changes to drive improved financial performance; |
| are fundamentally sound companies that may currently be underperforming their potential; |
| exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics, desirable returns on capital and a need for capital to achieve the companys growth strategy, that we believe have been misevaluated by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review; |
| will offer an attractive risk-adjusted return for our shareholders, potential upside from growth in the target business and an improved capital structure will be weighed against any identified downside risks; and |
| can benefit from being publicly traded, are prepared to be a publicly traded company and can utilize access to broader capital markets. |
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 criteria and guidelines as well as other considerations, factors, criteria and guidelines that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria and guidelines in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
In addition to any potential business candidates we may identify on our own, we anticipate that other target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.
Competitive Advantages
We believe that there will be growing capital needs among ICT companies based on rapid growth in the digital economy, specifically linked to 5G technology and innovation. We intend to target an asset with growing market presence, which would benefit from our investment and influence. We will utilize our ICT operating and investment teams, as well as Cerberus experience and resources, to address operational challenges, capital needs, and regulatory considerations to generate value post-closing.
| Experienced Alternative Asset Manager Through Multiple Economic Cycles. Since 1992, Cerberus has been a leader in global investing across the capital structure and multiple asset classes, including private equity, credit, and real estate. Since inception, Cerberus has invested over $135 billion of capital and today it has approximately $53 billion in assets under management across 26 offices globally. Since inception, Cerberus has successfully invested over $6 billion in ICT. |
| Skilled Operating Professionals with Relevant ICT Experience. Cerberus, through its affiliate, COAC, employs and or retains a large team of operating professionals and consultants, which together, form one of the largest dedicated, full-time operations teams in the industry. Cerberus also has an established advisory network of professional technology and telecom experts, who have led or held directorships in telecommunications companies globally (e.g., Nextel, Verizon, Nokia, and MTN). COAC and our advisors drive deal diligence and development, assist in sourcing, as well as provide significant expertise in operational planning and board oversight. |
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| Best in Class ICT Team with Deep Knowledge of 5G Tech Stack. Members of our team have held various leadership positions at companies that pioneered, designed, built, and operated 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE systems worldwide. Several have analyzed and led construction of technology for the Department of Defense and U.S. Intelligence Community, including the Central Intelligence Agency. Many still advise leading companies and the U.S. government on all aspects of 5G technology, working with leading research and development labs to understand next generation capabilities. |
| Manager and Employees with Critical Insight and Alignment with U.S. Policy. Our team is deeply knowledgeable of U.S. policy objectives. Cerberus has a history of operating regulated businesses in the US, Europe and emerging markets. We maintain current and former members of various government bodies and advisor boards who provide expert testimony and guidance on regulatory matters. Former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle has been with Cerberus since 1999 and currently serves as Chairman of Cerberus Global Investments, LLC. Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John Snow has been with Cerberus since 2006 and currently serves as Chairman of Cerberus. Through Vice President Quayle, Secretary Snow and other key Cerberus leaders, we have regular and ongoing discussions with key leaders across governments, vendors, integrators, and operators. |
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. We will also utilize our management teams operational, transaction, and capital planning experience along with resources from our affiliates, CTS and COAC.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or Advisors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or Advisors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Our officers, directors and Advisors may, directly or indirectly, own founder shares and/or private placement units following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, such officers, directors and Advisors 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.
We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have neither individually selected nor considered a target business nor have they had any substantive discussions regarding possible target businesses with our underwriters or other advisors. Our management team is regularly made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with our company. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.
Cerberus Technology Solutions, LLC
CTS is an affiliate of our sponsor and part of Cerberus proprietary operational platform. As described herein, CTS is entitled to fees and/or reimbursement of certain direct and allocable costs from us (including
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certain compensation costs and reasonable and customary incurred expenses) to the extent that members of CTS provide services to us before or after our initial business combination. CTSs services to our company, and the associated fee and expense terms, are or will be set forth in agreements that we enter into with CTS. CTS expects to generate a profit from its business relationships with us, and such profit may be material.
CTS, is a proprietary technology-focused operational affiliate of Cerberus, which today consists of 36 experienced business and technology executives who focus on deploying and implementing technology solutions to enhance processes and modernize business models across the Cerberus Funds and Accounts (as defined below), their respective investments and portfolio companies. CTS primary mandate is to apply leading technology solutions that can drive productivity and efficiency, realize new sources of revenue and value creation, and accelerate technological transformation and differentiation. CTS also helps to source, diligence, and operate new investments in technology and analytics companies. The core CTS team augments the Cerberus Funds and Accounts throughout the investment and ownership process to drive higher returns and increased efficiency. In a world that increasingly requires technological innovation and a faster pace of change, CTS allows Cerberus to proactively enhance the competitiveness of its portfolio companies and defensively fortify inherently sound businesses that suffered from lack of focus on technology.
The CTS team participates in identifying and performing diligence on investment opportunities where technological innovation can play a key role in driving value creation, a target universe that Cerberus believes is expanding at an accelerating pace. CTS seeks to add value through a number of ways:
| optimizing data collection and performing advanced analytics; |
| facilitating intelligence-driven decision-making; |
| identifying and staffing key talent to build or transform technology departments; |
| implementing organizational design and developing technology solutions; |
| rationalizing technology infrastructure and enabling use of Cloud Refactoring and modernizing legacy application; and |
| enhancing digital, mobile and e-commerce engagement. |
CTS has established operating units with both advisory and execution expertise within the following domains:
| Infrastructure Modernization |
| Data Unification and Management |
| Application Rationalization and Migration |
| Cybersecurity Assessment and Remediation Plan |
| Advanced Analytics |
| Digital and eCommerce |
| Emerging Technology |
| Payments |
We expect to be supported by CTS through entry into a master services agreement, pursuant to which CTS shall provide certain services designed to collaborate with clients and drive transformation and modernization by applying specialized capabilities and analytics to drive and address business and operational needs, including, among other things, a wide variety of consulting, data science, data analysis and technology development and management related services (the CTS Services) from time to time to us, which shall be specified in one or more statements of work, as agreed from time to time between us and CTS. Such statements of work shall include, among other things, a description of the agreed scope of work and details of billing rates, anticipated time commitments and expenses.
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Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company
COAC is an affiliate of our sponsor and part of Cerberus proprietary operational platform. As described herein, COAC is entitled to fees and/or reimbursement of certain direct and allocable costs from us (including certain compensation costs and reasonable and customary incurred expenses) to the extent that members of COAC provide services to us before or after our initial business combination. COACs services to our company, and the associated fee and expense terms, are or will be set forth in agreements that we enter into with COAC.
COAC employs and or retains a large team of operating professionals and consultants who drive deal diligence and development, assist in sourcing, as well as provide significant expertise in operational planning and board oversight. Periodically, members of COAC also take temporary or indefinite positions on the management teams of Cerberus portfolio companies, particularly in cases, such as corporate divestitures, where the management team is not fully complete upon consummation of an acquisition. We believe that few, if any, other alternative investment managers maintain a staff of operating and execution resources of comparable size and differentiated and extensive experience. The business executives comprising COAC can be grouped into three general categories:
| former chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chief financial officers, or other senior leaders of large companies or of large business units of companies; |
| functional experts with significant operating experience managing specific business functions, such as strategy, commercial effectiveness (including new product development, branding, pricing, sales, marketing and communications), technology, human resources, supply chain, treasury, financial planning and analysis, risk management, or legal (including regulatory affairs and environmental, social and governance); and |
| individuals with middle management, project management, or operational enhancement and turnaround experience, many of them trained in disciplines such as Six Sigma and other quality or efficiency/productivity techniques. |
COAC team members collectively have operating expertise in a wide range of industries on a global basis, including, but not limited to, business services, telecommunications, media, financial services and technology. COAC will assist our management and other members of our board of directors with identifying suitable acquisition candidates, conducting due diligence and operational planning, negotiating and executing our initial business combination and, thereafter, helping to plan and execute value enhancing operational plans and initiatives.
We expect to be supported by COAC through entry into a master consulting and services agreement pursuant to which COAC will provide services to us, which are expected to include (among others) (i) providing operating executives to assist our officers, directors and Advisors with, among other things, identifying suitable acquisition candidates, conducting due diligence and operational planning, negotiating and executing a business combination with a target and, thereafter, helping to plan and execute value enhancing operational plans and initiatives (the Business Advisory Services) as agreed between COAC and us from time to time, and/or (ii) we may request that COAC supply one or more operations executives to serve as a corporate officer of us, any acquisition candidate or any of their respective affiliates (the Officer Staffing Services, together with the Business Advisory Services, the COAC Services) for a specified time period. COAC has the sole discretion to determine whether it will make the Officer Staffing Services available as requested by the Company. To the extent COAC agrees to supply the requested Officer Staffing Services, the terms and conditions of such arrangement shall be reflected in a separate form of agreement. All Services to be performed by COAC and its operation executives under the agreement shall be specified in one or more engagement letters, which shall include, among other things, a general description of the project, any applicable target dates or other milestones, and a short summary of any work product to be delivered in connection to the engagement, as applicable, and all estimated fees and charges applicable to such engagement.
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Initial Business Combination
So long as our securities are then listed on the NYSE, 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 net assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of a target business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if the board is less familiar or experienced with the target companys business, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the companys assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target business meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our shareholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to shareholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed transaction will include such opinion.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders 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-business combination company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination 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-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. 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 shareholders 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-business combination 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. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. If our securities are not then listed on the NYSE for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net asset test.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business
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with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Other Considerations
Cerberus manages multiple investment vehicles, and Cerberus will raise additional funds and/or successor funds in the future (collectively the Cerberus Funds and Accounts), which may be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. Although we intend to seek a business combination with a company that would not be an appropriate opportunity for the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, the Cerberus Funds and Accounts (and/or the portfolio companies of any of the foregoing) may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. However, we do not expect that this would adversely affect our ability to consummate our initial business combination because our investment mandate is different from the current investment mandate of the Cerberus Funds and Accounts. Accordingly, the potential targets for a business combination are not expected to be appropriate investments for the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, including, without limitation, because: (i) the expected risk-adjusted returns acceptable to us with respect to any potential business combination may not meet the investment parameters of the Cerberus Funds and Accounts; (ii) of differences then existing between Cerberus general private equity and other strategies and our business strategy; (iii) considerations associated with the potential targets for a business combination may not be appropriate for the Cerberus Funds and Accounts; (iv) the fact that the post-business combination entity will be a public company, which may not be an appropriate investment for one or more of the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, which are expected to generally target companies that are more suitable for an operational private equity investment program; and (v) certain other applicable portfolio construction and other considerations, as determined by Cerberus based on then-existing facts and circumstances.
In addition, certain of our officers, directors and Advisors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities, including, without limitation, the Cerberus Funds and Accounts and certain companies in which Cerberus or such entities have invested. As a result, if any of our officers, directors or Advisors 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 (including, without limitation, any Cerberus Funds and Accounts), then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity.
Additionally, if the Cerberus Funds and Accounts or other entities decide to pursue a specific opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. In particular, our management will present any prospective business combination targets to Cerberus private equity investment committee (or an additional investment committee for a new Cerberus Fund and Account established after the date hereof) to determine if such investment is appropriate and/or available for an investment by the Cerberus Funds and Accounts. Cerberus will determine which entities will be allocated any such business opportunity in accordance with its then current policies and procedures and based on a number of factors, including the size of the target business, investment mandates of such entities, potential synergies and the other factors described herein. If it is determined that such investment is appropriate for the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, such opportunity will be pursued by such Cerberus Funds and Accounts in accordance with current policies and procedures and generally not the company. Certain investment opportunities may be suitable acquisitions by the Cerberus Funds and Accounts or by the portfolio companies of such Cerberus Funds and Accounts. If Cerberus believes, in its discretion, that an investment opportunity is better suited for acquisition by a portfolio company of a Cerberus Fund and Account than by us, Cerberus may offer such investment opportunity to such portfolio company, and consequently we may not participate in such opportunity as a potential business combination target. Cerberus generally seeks to have the Cerberus Funds and Accounts invest in investment opportunities that provide synergies to their existing businesses and assist in the overall profitability of such investments. It is possible that a potential business combination target may be considering an array of potential financing, monetization and/or other transaction opportunities, which may include, among other things, control or non-control equity investments, debt
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investments, a merger or asset sale, a traditional IPO or a combination with a SPAC and, to the extent that such business combination target determines not to pursue a combination with a SPAC and instead pursue one of these other opportunities, it is possible that one or more Cerberus Funds and Accounts may participate in such other transaction opportunity. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. However, we do not expect the aforementioned duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, Cerberus and our officers, directors, Advisors and COAC and CTS, are not required to commit any specified amount of time and resources to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time and resources among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. Each of Cerberus and our officers, directors, Advisors and COAC and CTS will allocate so much of their time and resources to us as in their judgment the management, operation, control, or conduct of our business reasonably requires. Moreover, Cerberus and certain of our officers, directors and Advisors have and will have in the future time and attention requirements for current and future Cerberus Funds and Accounts. Cerberus and certain of our officers, directors and Advisors further are expected to exercise investment responsibility on behalf of, or directly or indirectly purchase, sell, hold or otherwise deal with, any portfolio investment for the accounts of other businesses and the Cerberus Funds and Accounts. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between, on the one hand, us and, on the other hand the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, Cerberus and its affiliates will resolve such conflicts of interest in their sole discretion in accordance with their then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties under Cayman Islands law and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor.
Our sponsor, officers, directors and Advisors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. However, we do not currently expect that any such other blank check company would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a companys profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
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While we believe that our structure and our management teams backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the 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 shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved, If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $249,250,000, after payment of the estimated expenses of this offering and $8,750,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $286,187,500 after payment of the estimated expenses of this offering and $10,062,500 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) and assuming the outstanding principal on the overfunding loan is converted into private placement shares, 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.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
General
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering, the private placement of the private placement units, the overfunding loan, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing or other sources. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or
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business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-business combination company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions with any business combination target. Additionally, we have not engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, to conduct any research or take any measures, directly or indirectly, to locate or contact a target business, other than our officers and directors. Accordingly, there is no current basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business.
We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
Sources of Target Businesses
We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various affiliated sources, including COAC or CTS, and unaffiliated sources, including, investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since some of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors and Advisors, as well as their affiliates, and COAC or CTS and other affiliated sources may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of unaffiliated professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finders fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arms length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finders fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or their
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respective affiliates be paid by us any finders fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, COAC and CTS, which are affiliates of our sponsor and certain of our officers and directors, and our Advisors (including Dr. Kheradpir), will be entitled to fees and/or certain direct and allocable compensation costs, as well as reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses, to the extent that members of COAC or CTS or our Advisors provide services to us before our initial business combination (see SummaryOur Acquisition ProcessCerberus Operations and Advisory Company and Cerberus Technology Solutions). We have agreed to pay our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-business combination company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
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, including entities that are affiliates of our sponsor, 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 entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. See ManagementConflicts of Interest.
Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. We will also utilize our management teams operational and capital planning experience. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination. However, COAC and CTS, which are affiliates of our sponsor and certain of our officers and directors, and our Advisors (including Dr. Kheradpir), will be entitled to certain direct and allocable compensation costs, as well as reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses, to the extent that members of COAC or CTS or our Advisors provide services to us before our initial business combination (see SummaryOur Acquisition ProcessCerberus Operations and Advisory Company and Cerberus Technology Solutions). In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
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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 Targets 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 businesss 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.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
Under the NYSEs listing rules, shareholder approval would typically be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
| We issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our ordinary shares then-outstanding (other than in a public offering and excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units); |
| Any of our directors, officers or substantial security holder (as defined by the NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in issued and outstanding |
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ordinary shares or voting power of 1% or more (or 5% or more if the related party involved is classified as such solely because such person is a substantial security holder); or |
| The issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
| the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; |
| the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote; |
| the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination; |
| other time and budget constraints of the company; and |
| additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders. |
Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, executive officers, Advisors or their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, 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 public shares or 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 sponsor, directors, officers, Advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such transaction could be to (i) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (ii) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (iii) 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. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
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In addition, if such purchases are made, the public float of our Class A ordinary shares 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 sponsor, officers, directors, Advisors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors, Advisors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of tender offer or proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, Advisors or their affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming shareholders 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 shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the shareholder meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, executive officers, directors, Advisors or their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will be restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Our sponsor, officers, directors, Advisors and/or their 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 would be reported by such person pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account 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, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Further, we will not proceed with redeeming our public shares, even if a public shareholder has properly elected to redeem its shares, if a business combination does not close. Our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SECs penny stock rules). However, the proposed business combination
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may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceeds the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with the NYSE rules.
If we held a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
| conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
| file proxy materials with the SEC. |
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our sponsors founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 8,900,001, or 35.6% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 850,001, or 3.4% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 25,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. In addition, our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of
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a business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
| conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
| file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
If we seek shareholder 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 memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as Excess Shares, without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders 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 shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holders 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 shareholders ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
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Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
Public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in street name, will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Companys DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holders option, in each case up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker 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 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.
In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an option window after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the companys shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the shareholder meeting, would become option rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholders election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us. 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 shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 18 months from the closing of this offering.
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Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we will have only 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this 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, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands 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 consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
Our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame).
Our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, unless we provide our public shareholders 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, if any, divided by the number of the 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 (so that we do not then become subject to the SECs penny stock rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsor, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person.
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 $3,000,000 held outside the trust account plus up to $100,000 of funds from the trust account available to us to pay dissolution expenses, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.
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If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be $10.20. 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 shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be less than $10.20. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (except 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 shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including, but not limited, to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third-party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third-partys engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third-party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. The representatives of the underwriters will not execute an agreement 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 (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.20 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 $10.20 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the representatives of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. 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 sponsors only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.20 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 $10.20 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, 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
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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 $10.20 per public 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 (except 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 this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $3,000,000 following this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors, however such liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our trust account received by any such shareholder. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,500,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,500,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
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 shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.20 per public share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders 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 shareholders. 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 shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public shareholders 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 18 months from the closing of this offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder 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 consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholders voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholders redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account.
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Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with Our Initial Business Combination and If We Fail to Complete Our Initial Business Combination.
The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering:
Redemptions in |
Other Permitted |
Redemptions if We | ||||
Calculation of redemption price | Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. In either case, our public shareholders may redeem their public shares for 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 (which is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place if all of the | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, Advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit to the prices that our sponsor, directors, officers, Advisors or their affiliates may pay in these transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction | If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share),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 interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. |
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Redemptions in |
Other Permitted |
Redemptions if We | ||||
redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and any limitations (including, but not limited, to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination. | 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 be required to comply with such rules. | |||||
Impact to remaining shareholders | The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining shareholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable. | If the permitted purchases described above are made, there would be no impact to our remaining shareholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us. | The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our sponsor, who will be our only remaining shareholder after such redemptions. |
Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419
The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.
Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
Escrow of offering proceeds | $255,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan shall be deposited into a trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. | $220,500,000 of the offering proceeds, would be required to be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account. | ||
Investment of net proceeds | $255,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan held in trust will be invested only in U.S. | Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or |
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Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. | in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States. | |||
Receipt of interest on escrowed funds | Interest income (if any) on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to shareholders is reduced by (i) any income taxes paid or payable and (ii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation. | Interest income on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination. | ||
Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business | The NYSE rules require that 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 our assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of signing the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our securities are not then listed on the NYSE for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net asset test. | The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds. | ||
Trading of securities issued | The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless the representatives of the underwriters inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed | No trading of the units or the underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account. g |
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Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering. If the over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over-allotment option.
The units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. |
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Exercise of the warrants | The warrants cannot be exercised until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. | The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account. | ||
Election to remain an investor | We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash at a per share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement to hold a shareholder vote. If we are not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and | A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the companys registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a shareholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, |
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Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
do not otherwise decide to hold a shareholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SECs proxy rules. If, however, we hold a shareholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting are voted in favor of the business combination. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require that at least five days notice will be given of any such shareholder meeting. | held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the shareholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued. | |||
Business combination deadline | If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this 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 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount | If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the companys registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors. |
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Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
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 interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. | ||||
Release of funds | Except for the withdrawal of interest income (if any) to pay our taxes, if any, none of the funds held in trust will be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial | The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time. Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. |
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies, 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 shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 875 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we will pay to our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have five executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary 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.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We will register our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, sent to shareholders. These financial statements may be required 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 acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to
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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 acquisition 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 acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 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 not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
Prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and expect to receive, after the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
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 shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
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We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a smaller reporting company as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.
Legal Proceedings
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
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Officers, Directors and Director Nominees
Our officers, directors and director nominees are as follows:
Name |
Age |
Position | ||
Timothy M. Donahue | 72 | Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Director Nominee | ||
Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir | 60 | Chief Technology Officer and Director Nominee | ||
Jeffrey L. Lomasky | 70 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
Nicholas P. Robinson | 42 | Co-Chief Investment Officer | ||
Michael K. Palmer | 35 | Co-Chief Investment Officer | ||
Timothy Kasbe | 56 | Director Nominee | ||
Dr. Hossein Moiin | 57 | Director Nominee | ||
Robert C. Davenport | 55 | Director Nominee |
Timothy M. Donahue, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and a nominee to our board of directors, served as the Chief Executive Officer of Nextel Communications Inc., a nationwide wireless telecommunications company, from 1999 until 2005, when Nextel was merged with Sprint Corporation to form Sprint Nextel Corporation. Thereafter, and until 2006, Mr. Donahue was the Executive Chairman of Sprint Nextel and the Chairman of the Sprint Nextel Corporation. From 1996 until his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Donahue served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nextel. During his tenure at Nextel, Nextel experienced significant improvements in financial performance, including significant growth in revenues and EBITDA. Over that same period, the market capitalization of the company increased from approximately $16 billion to approximately $40 billion. Mr. Donahue started his telecommunications career with McCaw Cellular in 1986 as president of its paging division. Mr. Donahue is currently a member of the board of directors of Ligado Networks (wireless network) and AURA Network Systems (communications). Mr. Donahue is currently the Chairman of the board of directors of KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE), which completed a business combination with CTAC I on October 1, 2021, and previously served as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I. Mr. Donahue is a former director of ADT Corporation (home security) (formerly NASDAQ:ADT); Covidien plc (medical devices) (NYSE:COV); Eastman Kodak Company (imaging) (NYSE:KODK); Nextel Partners Inc. (telecommunications); NVR Inc. (home builder) (NYSE:NVR); and Tyco International Ltd. (diversified) (formerly NYSE:TYC). Mr. Donahue also served on the board of John Carroll University and is the former chairman of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA). In 2004, Institutional Investor Magazine honored Mr. Donahue as the best chief executive officer in the telecommunications services and wireless sector based on ratings by investors and brokerage firm analysts. Mr. Donahue received his BA in English Literature from John Carroll University.
Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir, our Chief Technology Officer and a nominee to our board of directors, is best known for driving transformational change through technology innovation at Verizon where he was Group Chief Information Officer from January 2000 to December 2010, at Barclays Bank as Group Chief Operating Officer from January 2011 to December 2013, and at Juniper Networks from January 2014 to December 2014 and Coriant from September 2015 to June 2018 as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Dr. Kheradpir continues to work with high-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley, leading private equity firms, and national governments on 5G networks, next generation applications for the industrial internet, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and blockchain. Dr. Kheradpir was on the founding Executive Leadership Committee of Verizon, helping transform it from a phone company to a premier telecom company worldwide in super high-speed networks such as FiOS and 4G-LTE, in interactive multi-media, and in world-class customer service and internal automation. At Barclays, Dr. Kheradpir was Group Chief Operating Officer and on the banks Global Executive Committee, setting the course for 21st century industrialization in financial services. At Juniper as Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kheradpir focused the company by creating and executing its Integrated Operating Plan (IOP), while
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becoming a premier cloud-builder and creator of high IQ networks via cutting-edge networking technology, automation and machine learning. At Coriant as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kheradpir integrated and re-invented three predecessor companies of Tellabs, Siemens Optical, and Sycamore, creating the industry-first Hyperscale Carrier Architecture (HCA) products, propelling Coriant to become the leading insurgent telecom equipment company worldwide across high-speed packet-optical and 5G networks. Dr. Kheradpir received his BS, MS and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Cornell University, served on the advisory board of US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is on the board of MTN Group (260 million wireless subscribers), and is on the Cornell University Engineering Council. Dr. Kheradpir previously served as the Chief Technology Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Dr. Kheradpir was inducted into the CIO Hall of Fame in 2006 and selected in 1990 as outstanding young engineer by US National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Jeffrey L. Lomasky, our Chief Financial Officer, is the Chief Financial Officer and a Senior Managing Director of Cerberus Capital Management. Mr. Lomasky joined Cerberus in 1994. Prior to joining Cerberus, Mr. Lomasky was the Chief Financial Officer of New Street Securities from 1992 to 1994. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Lomasky was the controller of Drexel Burnham Lambert and from 1989 to 1990, he was the Chief Financial Officer of European activities for Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Lomasky previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Lomasky is a graduate of Bernard Baruch College.
Nicholas P. Robinson, our Co-Chief Investment Officer, is a Managing Director and Cerberus Global Head of Trading. Mr. Robinson currently sits on Cerberus Corporate Credit Investment Committee. Cerberus Corporate Credit team has invested approximately $30 billion across industries, geographies, and asset classes since inception. Mr. Robinson helps manage several of Cerberus largest ICT investments. Mr. Robinson is a member of Cerberus Financial Risk Subcommittee and is involved in risk management for the firm globally. Mr. Robinson joined Cerberus in 2011 from Morgan Stanley where he was an Executive Director in the Distressed Credit Trading division. Mr. Robinson started his career in the Leveraged Loan Group at Goldman Sachs in 2004. Mr. Robinson previously served as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Robinson graduated from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Michael K. Palmer, our Co-Chief Investment Officer, is a Managing Director at Cerberus within Cerberus private equity platform, which invests in global companies across various industries and geographies. In this role, Mr. Palmer helps support Cerberus private equity investments in healthcare, telecommunications and technology companies. Mr. Palmer has assisted in the identification of opportunities to collaborate with innovative managers and invest in sectors undergoing transformation. Mr. Palmer has also contributed to the development of Cerberus investing practice in emerging markets and he currently serves on Cerberus Emerging Markets Investment Committee. Mr. Palmer is also on the Board of Directors of Stratolaunch, an American aerospace company that develops and operates technologies to fulfill national priorities; and AURA Network Systems, a company focused on developing a dedicated nationwide air-to-ground wireless communications network. Mr. Palmer previously served on the Board of Directors of Steward Health Care (an accountable care organization), Covis Pharma (a specialty pharmaceuticals company), PaxVax Global (a global specialty vaccines business), and Print Media Holdings (a division of YP Holdings, which was an advertising solutions platform that Cerberus carved out of AT&T). Mr. Palmer previously served as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021 and now serves as a member of the board of directors of KORE Wireless. Mr. Palmer is a graduate of Duke University.
Timothy Kasbe will be appointed to our board of directors in connection with this offering. Mr. Kasbe is President of Zoho Enterprise and is on the board of directors of Zoho Corporation Pty Ltd. (collectively, Zoho), a leading SAAS and PAAS company that operates in over 180 countries. Zoho has over one hundred
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products across customer experience, employee productivity and systems administration domains, serving over 70 million global users. Mr. Kasbe has been a Chief Information Officer (CIO) many times over, managing multi-billion dollar budgets and teams of over 26,000 technologists supporting businesses across retail, finance high-tech and biotech. Mr. Kasbe built the technology platform at Reliance Industries Ltd. Reliance Jio Mart is the top technology and eCommerce retailer in India today. At Sears, Mr. Kasbe helped transform the traditional brick and mortar retailer into a leading online marketplace. At Precigen Inc., Mr. Kasbe worked with hundreds of scientists in developing a first of its kind synthetic DNA supply chain. Mr. Kasbe helped build the digital platform at Gloria Jeans, along with a transformation of the supply chain mechanics, resulting in continued growth for Gloria Jeans and The Warehouse Group. Mr. Kasbe led a startup called the market, now New Zealands eCommerce marketplace. Mr. Kasbe has led many engagements in investments, valuation, due diligence, and transformation at private equity firms over the past ten years. Additionally, Mr. Kasbe has supported and mentored numerous startups including Twine Health, Cloudant, Tamr, Intrexon, Mapkin, OpenBay, Vertica and Carta. In addition to Zoho, Mr. Kasbe also serves on the board of TAMR, Inc., an AI-based data cleansing and visualization company and Cargo Services Far East, one of the largest freight forwarders in China and Hong Kong. Mr. Kasbe is a board advisor to KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE). Mr. Kasbe previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from January 2021 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless on October 1, 2021. Mr. Kasbe has been named CIO 100, most innovative CIO, Influential CIO and CIO 100 in publications in India, USA, Russia and New Zealand. Mr. Kasbe was a distinguished visiting scholar at Stanford University from 2011 to 2018 and completed doctoral studies in ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Duke University in May 2020. Mr. Kasbe has volunteered with Good Shepherd Schools (child education), India, Chabad House (orphan care), Rostov on Don, Russia, Salvation Army (hunger cure), Russia and Youthline (teen suicide hotline), New Zealand. The Kasbe family are foster parents and have served with Asha Graahum, Mumbai, Safe Families, Chicago, Detski Dom, Russia in the past and currently serve with OrangaTamariki (foster care) in New Zealand.
Dr. Hossein Moiin will be appointed to our board of directors in connection with this offering. Dr. Moiin has over 30 years of experience in the ICT sector. Dr. Moiin was Chief Technology, Innovation, and Strategy Officer for Nokia Mobile Networks from 2016 to 2018 where he was responsible for returning Nokia to profitability following the acquisition of the Alcatel Lucent wireless business and merging portfolios in a manner that minimized customer disruption. Dr. Moiin was also responsible for 5G and IoT, and for creating a roadmap from 4G networks encompassing technology and business models. Prior to that, Dr. Moiin was Chief Technology and Innovation Officer and a member of the Executive Board of Nokia from January 2012 to February 2016. Dr. Moiin previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from October 2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Dr. Moiin also served in senior technology roles at British Telecom and T-Mobile. Dr. Moiin obtained his BS, MS and PhD degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Mr. Robert C. Davenport will be appointed to our board of directors in connection with this offering. Mr. Davenport is Cerberus Head of Global Corporate Credit and Distressed Debt. Mr. Davenport is responsible for overseeing and managing Cerberus investments in stressed and distressed debt on a global basis. Mr. Davenport is also Chairman of the Corporate Credit Investment Committee. Since joining the firm in 1996, Mr. Davenport has played a significant role in building and establishing Cerberus core credit platform, which has invested approximately $30 billion across industries, geographies, and asset classes. In addition, Mr. Davenport has led the investment of multiple billions of capital per year during periods of market dislocation, such as the Asian Financial Crisis and the Great Financial Crisis. Mr. Davenport oversees a team of more than 25 dedicated investment professionals, who cover the United States, Europe, and emerging markets and have significant experience identifying and sourcing investment opportunities. During his tenure, Mr. Davenport has helped Cerberus develop new investment strategies that expand outside its core strategy of investing in stressed and distressed debt. Prior to Cerberus, Mr. Davenport was a principal at Vestar Capital Partners from 1990 to 1994, where he was responsible for identifying, analyzing and executing leveraged buyout opportunities. From 1988 to 1990, Mr. Davenport worked in the mergers and acquisitions group at Drexel Burnham. Mr. Davenport previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of CTAC I from October
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2020 until the completion of its business combination with KORE Wireless (NYSE:KORE) on October 1, 2021. Mr. Davenport graduated from the University of California. Mr. Davenport is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, California.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of shareholders) 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 the NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of and Timothy M. Donahue, will expire at our first annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Dr. Hossein Moiin and Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir, will expire at our second annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Timothy Kasbe and Robert C. Davenport, will expire at our third annual meeting of shareholders.
Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as our sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that our officers may consist of one or more chairman of the board, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. Our board of directors has determined that Timothy Kasbe, Dr. Hossein Moiin and Robert C. Davenport are independent directors as defined in the NYSE listing standards. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Executive Officer and Director Compensation
None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will reimburse our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month. In addition, our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or 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. In addition, COAC and CTS, which are affiliates of our sponsor and certain of our officers and directors, and our Advisors (including Dr. Kheradpir), will be entitled to fees and/or certain direct and allocable compensation costs, as well as reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses, to the extent that members of COAC or CTS or our Advisors provide services to us
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before our initial business combination (see SummaryOur Acquisition ProcessCerberus Operations and Advisory Company and Cerberus Technology Solutions). Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finders and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders 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 directors or 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.
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 managements motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our board of directors will have three standing committees: an audit committee, a nominating committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE require that the compensation committee and the nominating committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. Timothy Kasbe and Dr. Hossein Moiin will serve on our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that Timothy Kasbe and Dr. Hossein Moiin is independent under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Dr. Hossein Moiin will serve as the Chairman of the audit committee.
Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, all the directors on the audit committee must be independent. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has
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determined that Dr. Hossein Moiin qualifies as an audit committee financial expert as defined in applicable SEC rules. Because we expect to list our securities on the NYSE in connection with our initial public offering, we have one year from the date of this offering for our audit committee to have at least three members, all of whom must be independent.
The audit committee is responsible for:
| meeting with our independent registered public accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems; |
| monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law; |
| inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
| pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed; |
| appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent registered public accounting firm regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work; |
| establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies; |
| monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of this offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of this offering; and |
| reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing shareholders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval. |
Nominating Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a nominating committee of our board of directors. The members of our nominating committee will be Timothy Kasbe, Dr. Hossein Moiin and Robert C. Davenport, and Robert C. Davenport will serve as chairman of the nominating committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, we are required to have a nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that Timothy Kasbe, Dr. Hossein Moiin and Robert C. Davenport are independent.
The nominating committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating committee considers persons identified by its members, management, shareholders, investment bankers and others. Because we expect to list our securities on the NYSE in connection with our initial public offering, we have one year from the date of this offering for our nominating committee to have at least three members, all of whom must be independent.
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Guidelines for Selecting Director Nominees
The guidelines for selecting nominees, which will be specified in a charter to be adopted by us, generally will provide that persons to be nominated:
| should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service; |
| should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and |
| should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the shareholders. |
The nominating committee will consider a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background and integrity and professionalism in evaluating a persons candidacy for membership on the board of directors. The nominating committee may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and will also consider the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members. The nominating committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by shareholders and other persons.
Compensation Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee will be Timothy Kasbe, Dr. Hossein Moiin and Robert C. Davenport, and Robert C. Davenport will serve as chairman of the compensation committee.
Under the NYSE listing standards, we are required to have a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that Timothy Kasbe, Dr. Hossein Moiin and Robert C. Davenport are independent. Because we expect to list our securities on the NYSE in connection with our initial public offering, we have one year from the date of this offering for our compensation committee to have at least three members, all of whom must be independent.
We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
| reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Financial Officers, evaluating our Chief Financial Officers performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Financial Officer based on such evaluation; |
| reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 executive officers; |
| reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and/or annual report disclosure requirements; |
| approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees; |
| producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement, to the extent required; and |
| reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
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The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
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 Ethics
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. A copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
| duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole; |
| duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
| directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
| duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
| duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and |
| duty to exercise independent judgment. |
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at shareholder meetings.
Certain of our officers, directors and Advisors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities, including, without limitation, the Cerberus Funds and Accounts and certain companies in which Cerberus or such entities have invested. As a result, if any of our officers, directors or Advisors 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 (including, without limitation, any
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Cerberus Funds and Accounts), then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity.
Additionally, if the Cerberus Funds and Accounts or other entities decide to pursue a specific opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. In particular, our management will present any prospective business combination targets to Cerberus private equity investment committee (or an additional investment committee for a new Cerberus Fund and Account established after the date hereof) to determine if such investment is appropriate and/or available for an investment by the Cerberus Funds and Accounts. Cerberus will determine which entities will be allocated any such business opportunity in accordance with its then-current policies and procedures and based on a number of factors, including the size of the target business, investment mandates of such entities, potential synergies and the other factors described herein. If it is determined that such investment is appropriate for the Cerberus Funds and Accounts, such opportunity will be pursued by such Cerberus Funds and Accounts in accordance with current policies and procedures and generally not the company. Certain investment opportunities may be suitable acquisitions by the Cerberus Funds and Accounts or by the portfolio companies of such Cerberus Funds and Accounts. If Cerberus believes, in its discretion, that an investment opportunity is better suited for acquisition by a portfolio company of a Cerberus Fund and Account than by us, Cerberus may offer such investment opportunity to such portfolio company, and consequently we may not participate in such opportunity as a potential business combination target. Cerberus generally seeks to have the Cerberus Funds and Accounts invest in investment opportunities that provide synergies to their existing businesses and assist in the overall profitability of such investments. It is possible that a potential business combination target may be considering an array of potential financing, monetization and/or other transaction opportunities, which may include, among other things, control or non-control equity investments, debt investments, a merger or asset sale, a traditional IPO or a combination with a SPAC and, to the extent that such business combination target determines not to pursue a combination with a SPAC and instead pursue one of these other opportunities, it is possible that one or more Cerberus Funds and Accounts may participate in such other transaction opportunity. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. However, we do not expect the aforementioned duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties, contractual obligations or other material director or indirect management relationships:
Individual |
Entity |
Entitys Business |
Affiliation | |||
Timothy M. Donahue | AURA Network Systems, Inc. |
Communications |
Director | |||
KORE Wireless | Telecommunications | Chairman of the Board of Directors | ||||
Ligado Networks LLC | Satellite Communications | Director | ||||
Radius Networks | Location Software | Director | ||||
UCT Coatings Inc. | Chemical Manufacturing | Director | ||||
Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir | AURA Network Systems, Inc. |
Communications |
Director | |||
MTN Group Limited | Telecommunications | Director |
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Individual |
Entity |
Entitys Business |
Affiliation | |||
Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company | Telecommunications | Director | ||||
Live Earth, LLC | Technology Platform | Director | ||||
Source Code | Computer Software |
Chairman | ||||
Red River | Computer Software | Director | ||||
Untether AI | Artificial Intelligence Hardware | Director | ||||
Pivotal Commware | Telecommunications | Director | ||||
Timothy Kasbe | Zoho Corporation Pty Ltd.
Tamr, Inc.
Cargo Services Far East
KORE Wireless |
Business Software
Business Software
Logistics Company
Telecommunications |
President and Director
Director
Director
Board Advisor | |||
Robert C. Davenport | Panavision
Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.(1)
|
Technology
Investment Management
|
Director
Senior Managing Director, Head of Global and Corporate | |||
Jeffrey L. Lomasky | Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.(1)
CRE Boca Holdco, LLC
CRE Boca Opco, LLC
FirstKey Holdings, LLC
Herotainment, LLC
Homerica Investments BV |
Investment Management
Investment Management
Investment Management
Investment Management
Digital Entertainment
Financial Services |
Chief Financial Officer and Senior Managing Director
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Director
Director | |||
Nicholas P. Robinson | Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.(1) |
Investment Management |
Managing Director and Global Head of Trading | |||
Dr. Hossein Moiin | Maya Global Solutions
Aira Technologies
Onclave Networks
Cota Capital
Sway AI
New Kind of Network
nuPsys |
Video Communications
Telecommunications
Cybersecurity
Investment Firm
Articial Intelligence
Blockchain Technologies
Digital Technologies |
Advisor
Advisor
Referral Partner
Operating Partner
Advisor
Advisor
Advisor |
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Individual |
Entity |
Entitys Business |
Affiliation | |||
Michael K. Palmer | Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.(1)
KORE Wireless
Stratolaunch, LLC
AURA Network Systems, Inc. |
Investment Management
Telecommunications
Aerospace Development
Communications |
Managing Director
Director
Director
Director |
(1) | Includes certain of its funds and other affiliates. |
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
| Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other 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 and directors is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers and directors are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. |
| Our sponsor subscribed for founder shares prior to the date of this prospectus and will purchase private placement units in a transaction that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. |
| Our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. |
Additionally, our sponsor has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement units (including securities contained therein) will expire worthless. Except as described herein, our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Except as described herein, the private placement units, private placement shares, private placement warrants and Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Because each of our executive officers and director nominees will own ordinary shares or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors is included by a target business as a
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condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or Advisors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or Advisors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Furthermore, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or their respective affiliates, be paid by us any finders fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. However, COAC and CTS, which are affiliates of our sponsor and certain of our officers and directors, and our Advisors (including Dr. Kheradpir), will be entitled to fees and/or certain direct and allocable compensation costs, as well as reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses, to the extent that members of COAC or CTS or our Advisors provide services to us before our initial business combination (see SummaryOur Acquisition ProcessCerberus Operations and Advisory Company and Cerberus Technology Solutions). Further, commencing on the date our securities are first listed on the NYSE, we will also reimburse our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a companys memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, willful neglect, civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We will enter into agreements with our directors and officers to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. We expect to purchase a policy of directors and officers liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
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 have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
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Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders 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 shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholders 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.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
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The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:
| each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares; |
| each of our executive officers, directors and director nominees that beneficially owns ordinary shares; and |
| all our executive officers, directors and director nominees as a group. |
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all of our ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.
In February 2021, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain expenses on our behalf in consideration of 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. In November 2021, our sponsor surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, which decreased the number of outstanding Class B ordinary shares from 14,375,000 to 7,187,500. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The post-offering percentages in the following table assume that the underwriter does not exercise their over-allotment option and that there are 32,200,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding after this offering.
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) |
Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(2) |
Approximate Percentage of Issued and Outstanding Ordinary Shares |
||||||||||
Before Offering | After Offering(3) | |||||||||||
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition II Holdings, LLC (our sponsor) |
7,187,500 | (3)(4) | 100 | % | 22.4 | % | ||||||
Timothy M. Donahue |
| | | |||||||||
Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir |
| | | |||||||||
Robert C. Davenport |
| | | |||||||||
Jeffrey L. Lomasky |
| | | |||||||||
Nicholas P. Robinson |
| | | |||||||||
Michael K. Palmer |
| | | |||||||||
Dr. Hossein Moiin |
| | | |||||||||
Timothy Kasbe |
| | | |||||||||
All officers, directors and director nominees as a group (nine individuals) |
7,187,500 | (4)(5) | 100 | % | 22.4 | % |
* | Less than one percent. |
(1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our shareholders is 875 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022. |
(2) | Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares, and excludes the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described in the section entitled Description of Securities. |
(3) | Interests shown include the Class A ordinary shares to be issued as a part of the sale of the private placement units. |
(4) | The shares reported above are held in the name of our sponsor. Our sponsor is controlled by Stephen A. Feinberg. |
(5) | Includes up to 937,500 founder shares that will be surrendered to us for no consideration by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised. |
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Immediately after this offering, our sponsor will beneficially own 22.4% of the then issued and outstanding ordinary shares (including the private placement shares underlying the private placement units and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering) and will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to elect any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. Because of this ownership block, our sponsor may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share surrender or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon the consummation of this offering.
Our sponsor has agreed (a) to vote any founder shares and public shares held by it in favor of any proposed business combination and (b) not to redeem any founder shares or public shares held by it in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.
Our sponsor is deemed to be our promoter as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units
The founder shares, private placement units, private placement shares, private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the agreement entered into by our sponsor and management team. Our sponsor and our management team have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell (i) any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) any of their private placement units, private placement shares, private placement warrants and Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The foregoing restrictions are not applicable to transfers (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members or partners of our sponsor or their affiliates, any affiliates of our sponsor, or any employees of such affiliates; (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the individuals immediate family, any estate planning vehicle or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individuals immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the founder shares, private placement warrants or Class A ordinary shares, as applicable, were originally purchased; (f) pro rata distributions from our sponsor to its members, partners, or shareholders pursuant to our sponsors operating agreement; (g) by virtue of our sponsors organizational documents upon liquidation or dissolution of our sponsor; (h) to the Company for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination; (i) in the event of our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination; or (j) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (g) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreement.
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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
In February 2021, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain expenses on our behalf in consideration of 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. In November 2021, our sponsor surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, which decreased the number of outstanding Class B ordinary shares from 14,375,000 to 7,187,500. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the issued and outstanding shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon completion of this offering. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share surrender or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 937,500 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised. The founder shares (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 950,000 private placement units (or 1,025,000 private placement units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per unit in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of this offering for an aggregate purchase price of $9,500,000 (or $10,250,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). As such, our sponsors interest in this transaction is valued at between $9,500,000, and $10,250,000, depending on the number of private placement units purchased. The private placement units are identical to the units sold in this offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this prospectus. Each private placement warrant underlying the private placement units entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The private placement warrants underlying the private placement units (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.
As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled ManagementConflicts of Interest, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
We currently maintain our executive offices at 875 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we will pay to our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services, commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NYSE. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
No compensation of any kind, including finders and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers, directors and Advisors, or their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, COAC and CTS, which are affiliates of our sponsor and certain of our officers and directors, and our Advisors (including Dr. Kheradpir) and will be entitled to fees and/or certain direct and allocable compensation costs, as well as reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses, to the extent that members of COAC or CTS or our Advisors provide services to us before our initial business combination (see SummaryOur Acquisition ProcessCerberus Operations and Advisory Company and Cerberus Technology Solutions). Our sponsor, officers and directors 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
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basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors, Advisors or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of September 30, 2021, we have borrowed $230,848 under the promissory note with our sponsor. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 and the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the offering proceeds not held in the trust account.
Further, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, our sponsor will make a non-interest bearing and unsecured loan to us in the amount of $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) which will be convertible into 500,000 private placement shares (or 575,000 private placement shares if ther underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per share or repaid in cash upon the closing of our initial business combination at the option of our sponsor. The proceeds of this loan shall be deposited in our trust account along with the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement units.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the private placement units. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, its affiliates or our management team as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a shareholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
We will enter into a registration and shareholder rights agreement pursuant to which our sponsor will be entitled to certain registration rights with respect to the founder shares, private placement shares or private placement warrants underlying the private placement units, private placement units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (including the private placement shares and private placement warrants issuable upon conversion of working capital loans) (if any), private placement shares that may be issued upon conversion of the outstanding principal on the overfunding loan and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares, and, upon consummation of our initial business combination, to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as our sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement, which is described under the section of this prospectus entitled Description of SecuritiesRegistration and Shareholder Rights.
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Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors will adopt a charter, providing for the review, approval and/or ratification of related party transactions, which are those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K as promulgated by the SEC, by the audit committee. At its meetings, the audit committee shall be provided with the details of each new, existing, or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, any contractual restrictions that the company has already committed to, the business purpose of the transaction, and the benefits of the transaction to the company and to the relevant related party. Any member of the committee who has an interest in the related party transaction under review by the committee shall abstain from voting on the approval of the related party transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairman of the committee, participate in some or all of the committees discussions of the related party transaction. Upon completion of its review of the related party transaction, the committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the related party transaction.
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We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and our affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act and the common law of the Cayman Islands. Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, which will be adopted prior to the consummation of this offering, we will be authorized to issue 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares and 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, as well as 5,000,000 preference shares, $0.0001 par value each. The following description summarizes the material terms of our shares as set out more particularly in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.
Units
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of the companys Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder.
The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units are expected to begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless the representatives of the underwriters inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the Class A ordinary shares and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering, the sale of the private placement units and the overfunding loan. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes this audited balance sheet promptly after the completion of this offering. If the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option.
Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination.
Ordinary Shares
Prior to the date of this prospectus, there were 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding, all of which were held of record by our sponsor, so that our sponsor will own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) after this offering and the expiration of the underwriters option to purchase additional units. Upon the closing of this offering, 32,200,000 of our ordinary shares will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option) including:
| 25,000,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the units issued as part of this offering; |
| 6,250,000 Class B ordinary shares held by our sponsor; and |
| 950,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units issued simultaneously with the closing of this offering. |
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If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a compulsory redemption or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon the consummation of this offering.
Ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. Except as described below, holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders except as required by law. Unless specified in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or as required by applicable provisions of the Companies Act or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our ordinary shares that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our shareholders. Approval of certain actions will require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares that are voted, and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; such actions include amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approving a statutory merger or consolidation with another company. Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the election of directors can elect all of the directors. Our shareholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor. Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination may only be amended by a special resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at our shareholder meeting which shall include the affirmative vote of a simple majority of our Class B ordinary shares.
Because our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will authorize the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of Class A ordinary shares which we will be authorized to issue at the same time as our shareholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.
Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of shareholders) 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 the NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or shareholder meetings to elect directors. We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public
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shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial owner must identify itself in order to valid redeem its shares. Our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. Unlike many blank check companies that hold shareholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a shareholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, if a shareholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SECs proxy rules. If, however, a shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting are voted in favor of the business combination. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, Advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public shareholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require that at least five days notice will be given of any shareholder meeting.
If we seek shareholder 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 memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares, without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our shareholders inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such shareholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such shareholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And, as a result, such shareholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting
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are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our sponsors founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 8,900,001, or 35.6% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 850,001, or 3.4% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 25,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all.
Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this 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, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame). Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our shareholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of shares, if any, having preference over the ordinary shares. Our shareholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the ordinary shares, except that we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash at a per share price 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, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.
Founder Shares
The founder shares are designated as Class B ordinary shares and, except as described below, are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same shareholder rights as public shareholders, except that: (a) prior to our initial business combination, only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors and holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason; (b) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; (c) our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our
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obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares; and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame); (d) the founder shares will automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described herein; and (e) the founder shares are entitled to registration rights. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination.
The founder shares are designated as Class B ordinary shares and will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we do not consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon completion of this offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement units and private placement shares issued to our sponsor, its affiliates or any member of our management team upon conversion of working capital loans and the outstanding principal on the overfunding loan, respectively. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one.
Except as described herein, our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our sponsor and our directors and executive officers with respect to any founder shares.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at our shareholder meeting which shall include the affirmative vote of a simple majority of our Class B ordinary shares. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.
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Register of Members
Under Cayman Islands law, we must keep a register of members and there will be entered therein:
| the names and addresses of the members, a statement of the shares held by each member, and of the amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid, on the shares of each member and the voting rights of shares; |
| the date on which the name of any person was entered on the register as a member; and |
| the date on which any person ceased to be a member. |
Under Cayman Islands law, the register of members of our company is prima facie evidence of the matters set out therein (i.e., the register of members will raise a presumption of fact on the matters referred to above unless rebutted) and a member registered in the register of members will be deemed as a matter of Cayman Islands law to have legal title to the shares as set against its name in the register of members. Upon the closing of this public offering, the register of members will be immediately updated to reflect the issue of shares by us. Once our register of members has been updated, the shareholders recorded in the register of members will be deemed to have legal title to the shares set against their name. However, there are certain limited circumstances where an application may be made to a Cayman Islands court for a determination on whether the register of members reflects the correct legal position. Further, the Cayman Islands court has the power to order that the register of members maintained by a company should be rectified where it considers that the register of members does not reflect the correct legal position. If an application for an order for rectification of the register of members were made in respect of our ordinary shares, then the validity of such shares may be subject to re-examination by a Cayman Islands court.
Preference Shares
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will authorize 5,000,000 preference shares and provide that preference shares may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without shareholder approval, issue preference shares with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the ordinary shares and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preference shares without shareholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preference shares issued and outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any preference shares, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No preference shares are being issued or registered in this offering.
Warrants
Public Shareholders Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of one year from the closing of this offering and 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, provided that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement) and such Class A ordinary shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities or blue sky laws of the state of residence of the holder. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only
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whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we may lower the warrant exercise price or extend the duration of the exercise period of the warrants without the consent of the registered holders of the warrants.
We will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares 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 ordinary shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue a Class A ordinary share upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A ordinary share 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. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the Class A ordinary share underlying such unit.
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 registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement; provided that if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a covered security under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonably efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of the initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we 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, but we will use our commercially reasonably efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the fair market value (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The fair market value as used in this paragraph shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is delivered to the warrant agent.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):
| in whole and not in part; |
| at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
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| upon a minimum of 30 days prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and |
| if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading WarrantsPublic Shareholders WarrantsAnti-Dilution Adjustments) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three trading days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis. In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our shareholders of issuing the maximum number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value.
We have established the last of the redemption criteria discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A ordinary shares may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading WarrantsPublic Shareholders WarrantsAnti-Dilution Adjustments) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption Procedures. A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such persons affiliates), to the warrant agents actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-Dilution Adjustments. If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is increased by a capitalization or share dividend paid in Class A ordinary shares to all or substantially all holders of Class A ordinary shares, or by a subdivision of Class A ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such capitalization or share dividend, subdivision or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to all or substantially all of the holders of the Class A ordinary shares on account of such Class A ordinary shares (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) any cash dividends or cash distributions which, when combined on a per share basis with all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the Class A ordinary shares during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution does not exceed $0.50 (as adjusted to appropriately reflect any other adjustments and excluding cash dividends or cash distributions that
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resulted in an adjustment to the exercise price or to the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant) but only with respect to the amount of the aggregate cash dividends or cash distributions equal to or less than $0.50 per share, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, (e) as a result of the repurchase of Class A ordinary shares by us if a proposed initial business combination is presented to our shareholders for approval, or (f) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each Class A ordinary share in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse share split or reclassification of Class A ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse share split, reclassification or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
Whenever the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In addition, if (x) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our 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 our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the Market Value) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding Class A ordinary shares (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such Class A ordinary shares), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the Class A ordinary shares immediately theretofore
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purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of Class A ordinary shares or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event.
The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision, (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares 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. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants.
The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of ordinary shares and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive Class A ordinary shares. After the issuance of Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by shareholders.
No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will 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 Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder.
We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. See Risk FactorsOur warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company. This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.
Private Placement Warrants
Except as described below, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except pursuant to limited exceptions as described under Principal Shareholders Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants, to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with the initial purchasers of the private placement warrants) and they will not be redeemable by us. Our sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. Any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants.
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If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the Sponsor fair market value (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the Sponsor fair market value. For these purposes, the Sponsor fair market value shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor and its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that restrict insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public shareholders who could exercise their warrants and sell the Class A ordinary shares received upon such exercise freely in the open market in order to recoup the cost of such exercise, the insiders could be significantly restricted from selling such securities. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. Such units would be identical to the private placement units.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we increase the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with a business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our ordinary shares and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its shareholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any claims and losses due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.
Certain Differences in Corporate Law
Cayman Islands companies are governed by the Companies Act. The Companies Act is modeled on English Law but does not follow recent English Law statutory enactments, and differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the material differences
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between the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
Mergers and Similar Arrangements. In certain circumstances, the Companies Act allows for mergers or consolidations between two Cayman Islands companies, or between a Cayman Islands exempted company and a company incorporated in another jurisdiction (provided that is facilitated by the laws of that other jurisdiction).
Where the merger or consolidation is between two Cayman Islands companies, the directors of each company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation containing certain prescribed information. That plan or merger or consolidation must then be authorized by either (a) a special resolution (usually a majority of 662⁄3% in value of the voting shares voted at a shareholder meeting) of the shareholders of each company; or (b) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent companys articles of association. No shareholder resolution is required for a merger between a parent company (i.e., a company that owns at least 90% of the issued shares of each class in a subsidiary company) and its subsidiary company. The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest of a constituent company must be obtained, unless the court waives such requirement. If the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies is satisfied that the requirements of the Companies Act (which includes certain other formalities) have been complied with, the Registrar of Companies will register the plan of merger or consolidation.
Where the merger or consolidation involves a foreign company, the procedure is similar, save that with respect to the foreign company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the merger or consolidation is permitted or not prohibited by the constitutional documents of the foreign company and by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the foreign company is incorporated, and that those laws and any requirements of those constitutional documents have been or will be complied with; (ii) that no petition or other similar proceeding has been filed and remains outstanding or order made or resolution adopted to wind up or liquidate the foreign company in any jurisdictions; (iii) that no receiver, trustee, administrator or other similar person has been appointed in any jurisdiction and is acting in respect of the foreign company, its affairs or its property or any part thereof; and (iv) that no scheme, order, compromise or other similar arrangement has been entered into or made in any jurisdiction whereby the rights of creditors of the foreign company are and continue to be suspended or restricted.
Where the surviving company is the Cayman Islands exempted company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are further required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the foreign company is able to pay its debts as they fall due and that the merger or consolidated is bona fide and not intended to defraud unsecured creditors of the foreign company; (ii) that in respect of the transfer of any security interest granted by the foreign company to the surviving or consolidated company (a) consent or approval to the transfer has been obtained, released or waived; (b) the transfer is permitted by and has been approved in accordance with the constitutional documents of the foreign company; and (c) the laws of the jurisdiction of the foreign company with respect to the transfer have been or will be complied with; (iii) that the foreign company will, upon the merger or consolidation becoming effective, cease to be incorporated, registered or exist under the laws of the relevant foreign jurisdiction; and (iv) that there is no other reason why it would be against the public interest to permit the merger or consolidation.
Where the above procedures are adopted, the Companies Act provides for a right of dissenting shareholders to be paid a payment of the fair value of his shares upon their dissenting to the merger or consolidation if they follow a prescribed procedure. In essence, that procedure is as follows: (a) the shareholder must give his written objection to the merger or consolidation to the constituent company before the vote on the merger or consolidation, including a statement that the shareholder proposes to demand payment for his shares if the merger or consolidation is authorized by the vote; (b) within 20 days following the date on which the merger or consolidation is approved by the shareholders, the constituent company must give written notice to each shareholder who made a written objection; (c) a
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shareholder must within 20 days following receipt of such notice from the constituent company, give the constituent company a written notice of his intention to dissent including, among other details, a demand for payment of the fair value of his shares; (d) within seven days following the date of the expiration of the period set out in paragraph (b) above or seven days following the date on which the plan of merger or consolidation is filed, whichever is later, the constituent company, the surviving company or the consolidated company must make a written offer to each dissenting shareholder to purchase his shares at a price that the company determines is the fair value and if the company and the shareholder agree the price within 30 days following the date on which the offer was made, the company must pay the shareholder such amount; and (e) if the company and the shareholder fail to agree a price within such 30 day period, within 20 days following the date on which such 30 day period expires, the company (and any dissenting shareholder) must file a petition with the Cayman Islands Grand Court to determine the fair value and such petition must be accompanied by a list of the names and addresses of the dissenting shareholders with whom agreements as to the fair value of their shares have not been reached by the company. At the hearing of that petition, the court has the power to determine the fair value of the shares together with a fair rate of interest, if any, to be paid by the company upon the amount determined to be the fair value. Any dissenting shareholder whose name appears on the list filed by the company may participate fully in all proceedings until the determination of fair value is reached. These rights of a dissenting shareholder are not available in certain circumstances, for example, to dissenters holding shares of any class in respect of which an open market exists on a recognized stock exchange or recognized interdealer quotation system at the relevant date or where the consideration for such shares to be contributed are shares of any company listed on a national securities exchange or shares of the surviving or consolidated company.
Moreover, Cayman Islands law has separate statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction or amalgamation of companies in certain circumstances, schemes of arrangement will generally be more suited for complex mergers or other transactions involving widely held companies, commonly referred to in the Cayman Islands as a scheme of arrangement which may be tantamount to a merger. In the event that a merger was sought pursuant to a scheme of arrangement (the procedures for which are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States), the arrangement in question must be approved by a majority in number of each class of shareholders and creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made and who must in addition represent three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a meeting, or meeting summoned for that purpose. The convening of the meetings and subsequently the terms of the arrangement must be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. While a dissenting shareholder would have the right to express to the court the view that the transaction should not be approved, the court can be expected to approve the arrangement if it satisfies itself that:
| we are not proposing to act illegally or beyond the scope of our corporate authority and the statutory provisions as to majority vote have been complied with; |
| the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question; |
| the arrangement is such as a businessman would reasonably approve; and |
| the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Act or that would amount to a fraud on the minority. |
If a scheme of arrangement or takeover offer (as described below) is approved, any dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to appraisal rights (providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares), which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of United States corporations.
Squeeze-out Provisions. When a takeover offer is made and accepted by holders of 90% of the shares to whom the offer relates within four months, the offeror may, within a two-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer such shares on the terms of the offer. An objection can be made to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, but this is unlikely to succeed unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith, collusion or inequitable treatment of the shareholders.
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Further, transactions similar to a merger, reconstruction and/or an amalgamation may in some circumstances be achieved through means other than these statutory provisions, such as a share capital exchange, asset acquisition or control, or through contractual arrangements of an operating business.
Shareholders Suits. Our Cayman Islands counsel is not aware of any reported class action having been brought in a Cayman Islands court. Derivative actions have been brought in the Cayman Islands courts, and the Cayman Islands courts have confirmed the availability for such actions. In most cases, we will be the proper plaintiff in any claim based on a breach of duty owed to us, and a claim against (for example) our officers or directors usually may not be brought by a shareholder. However, based both on Cayman Islands authorities and on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority and be applied by a court in the Cayman Islands, exceptions to the foregoing principle apply in circumstances in which:
| a company is acting, or proposing to act, illegally or beyond the scope of its authority; |
| the act complained of, although not beyond the scope of the authority, could be effected if duly authorized by more than the number of votes which have actually been obtained; or |
| those who control the company are perpetrating a fraud on the minority. |
A shareholder may have a direct right of action against us where the individual rights of that shareholder have been infringed or are about to be infringed.
Enforcement of Civil Liabilities. The Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides less protection to investors. Additionally, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the Federal courts of the United States.
We have been advised by our Cayman Islands legal counsel that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, and or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
Special Considerations for Exempted Companies. We are an exempted company with limited liability (meaning our public shareholders have no liability, as members of the company, for liabilities of the company over and above the amount paid for their shares) under the Companies Act. The Companies Act distinguishes between ordinary resident companies and exempted companies. Any company that is registered in the Cayman Islands but conducts business mainly outside of the Cayman Islands may apply to be registered as an exempted company. The requirements for an exempted company are essentially the same as for an ordinary company except for the exemptions and privileges listed below:
| annual reporting requirements are minimal and consist mainly of a statement that the company has conducted its operations mainly outside of the Cayman Islands and has complied with the provisions of the Companies Act; |
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| an exempted companys register of members is not open to inspection; |
| an exempted company does not have to hold an annual shareholder meeting; |
| an exempted company may issue negotiable or bearer shares or shares with no par value; |
| an exempted company may obtain an undertaking against the imposition of any future taxation (such undertakings are usually given for 20 years in the first instance); |
| an exempted company may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands; |
| an exempted company may register as a limited duration company; and |
| an exempted company may register as a segregated portfolio company. |
Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will contain provisions designed to provide certain rights and protections relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without a special resolution under Cayman Islands law. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a resolution is deemed to be a special resolution where it has been approved by either (i) the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (or any higher threshold specified in a companys articles of association) of a companys shareholders entitled to vote and so voting at a shareholder meeting for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given; or (ii) if so authorized by a companys articles of association, by a unanimous written resolution of all of the companys shareholders. Other than as described above, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that special resolutions must be approved either by at least two-thirds of our shareholders who attend and vote at a shareholder meeting of the company (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders.
Our sponsor and its permitted transferees, if any, who will collectively beneficially own 23.5% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (including the private placement shares underlying the private placement units and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide, among other things, that:
| If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes that were paid by us or are payable by us, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law; |
| Prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, we may not issue additional securities 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 our initial business combination or on any other proposal presented to shareholders prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to |
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(x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 18 months from the closing of this offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions; |
| Although we do not intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view; |
| If a shareholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act; |
| So long as our securities are then listed on the NYSE, 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 amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination; |
| If our shareholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed 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 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their ordinary shares upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein; and |
| We will not effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations. |
In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001.
The Companies Act permits a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands to amend its memorandum and articles of association with the approval of a special resolution which requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of such companys issued and outstanding ordinary shares who attend and vote at a shareholder meeting or by way of unanimous written resolution. A companys articles of association may specify that the approval of a higher majority is required but, provided the approval of the required majority is obtained, any Cayman Islands exempted company may amend its memorandum and articles of association regardless of whether its memorandum and articles of association provide otherwise. Accordingly, although we could amend any of the provisions relating to our proposed offering, structure and business plan which are contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we view all of these provisions as binding obligations to our shareholders and neither we, nor our officers or directors, will take any action to amend or waive any of these provisions unless we provide dissenting public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares.
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Anti-Money LaunderingCayman Islands
In order to comply with legislation or regulations aimed at the prevention of money laundering, we are required to adopt and maintain anti-money laundering procedures, and may require subscribers to provide evidence to verify their identity and source of funds. Where permitted, and subject to certain conditions, we may also delegate the maintenance of our anti-money laundering procedures (including the acquisition of due diligence information) to a suitable person.
We reserve the right to request such information as is necessary to verify the identity of a subscriber. In some cases the directors may be satisfied that no further information is required since an exemption applies under the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, as amended and revised from time to time (the Regulations). Depending on the circumstances of each application, a detailed verification of identity might not be required where:
a) | the subscriber is a relevant financial business required to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (2020 Revision) or is a majority-owned subsidiary of such a business; or |
b) | the subscriber is acting in the course of a business in relation to which a regulatory authority exercises regulatory functions and which is in a country listed by the Cayman Islands Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee (Equivalent Jurisdiction) or is a majority-owned subsidiary of such subscriber; or |
c) | the subscriber is a central or local government organization, statutory body or agency of government in the Cayman Islands or an Equivalent Jurisdiction; or |
d) | the subscriber is a company that is listed on a recognized stock exchange and subject to disclosure requirements which impose requirements to ensure adequate transparency of beneficial ownership, or is a majority-owned subsidiary of such a company; or |
e) | the subscriber is a pension fund for a professional association, trade union or is acting on behalf of employees of an entity referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) to (d); or |
f) | the application is made through an intermediary which falls within one of sub-paragraphs (a) to (e). In this situation the company may rely on a written assurance from the intermediary which confirms (i) that the requisite identification and verification procedures on the applicant for business and its beneficial owners have been carried out; (ii) the nature and intended purpose of the business relationship; (iii) that the intermediary has identified the source of funds of the applicant for business; and (iv) that the intermediary shall make available copies of any identification and verification data or information and relevant documents. |
For the purposes of these exceptions, recognition of a financial institution, regulatory authority or jurisdiction will be determined in accordance with the Regulations by reference to those jurisdictions recognized by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority as having equivalent anti-money laundering regulations.
In the event of delay or failure on the part of the subscriber in producing any information required for verification purposes, we may refuse to accept the application, in which case any funds received will be returned without interest to the account from which they were originally debited.
We also reserve the right to refuse to make any payment to a shareholder if our directors or officers suspect or are advised that the payment to such shareholder might result in a breach of applicable anti-money laundering or other laws or regulations by any person in any relevant jurisdiction, or if such refusal is considered necessary or appropriate to ensure our compliance with any such laws or regulations in any applicable jurisdiction.
If any person resident in the Cayman Islands knows or suspects, or has reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting, that another person is engaged in criminal conduct or is involved with terrorism or terrorist property and the information for that knowledge or suspicion came to their attention in the course of business in the
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regulated sector or other trade, profession, business or employment, the person will be required to report such knowledge or suspicion to (i) the Financial Reporting Authority of the Cayman Islands, pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands if the disclosure relates to criminal conduct or money laundering or (ii) a police officer of the rank of constable or higher, or the Financial Reporting Authority, pursuant to the Terrorism Act (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, if the disclosure relates to involvement with terrorism or terrorist financing and property. Such a report will not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise.
Data ProtectionCayman Islands
We have certain duties under the Data Protection Act, 2017 of the Cayman Islands (the DPL) based on internationally accepted principles of data privacy.
Privacy Notice
Introduction
This privacy notice puts our shareholders on notice that through your investment in the Company you will provide us with certain personal information which constitutes personal data within the meaning of the DPL (personal data). In the following discussion, the company refers to us and our affiliates and/or delegates, except where the context requires otherwise.
Investor Data
We will collect, use, disclose, retain and secure personal data to the extent reasonably required only and within the parameters that could be reasonably expected during the normal course of business. We will only process, disclose, transfer or retain personal data to the extent legitimately required to conduct our activities of on an ongoing basis or to comply with legal and regulatory obligations to which we are subject. We will only transfer personal data in accordance with the requirements of the DPL, and will apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of the personal data and against the accidental loss, destruction or damage to the personal data.
In our use of this personal data, we will be characterized as a data controller for the purposes of the DPL, while our affiliates and service providers who may receive this personal data from us in the conduct of our activities may either act as our data processors for the purposes of the DPL or may process personal information for their own lawful purposes in connection with services provided to us.
We may also obtain personal data from other public sources. Personal data includes, without limitation, the following information relating to a shareholder and/or any individuals connected with a shareholder as an investor: name, residential address, email address, contact details, corporate contact information, signature, nationality, place of birth, date of birth, tax identification, credit history, correspondence records, passport number, bank account details, source of funds details and details relating to the shareholders investment activity.
Who this Affects
If you are a natural person, this will affect you directly. If you are a corporate investor (including, for these purposes, legal arrangements such as trusts or exempted limited partnerships) that provides us with personal data on individuals connected to you for any reason in relation your investment in the company, this will be relevant for those individuals and you should transmit the content of this Privacy Notice to such individuals or otherwise advise them of its content.
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How the Company May Use a Shareholders Personal Data
The company, as the data controller, may collect, store and use personal data for lawful purposes, including, in particular:
a) | where this is necessary for the performance of our rights and obligations under any purchase agreements; |
b) | where this is necessary for compliance with a legal and regulatory obligation to which we are subject (such as compliance with anti-money laundering and FATCA/CRS requirements); and/or |
c) | where this is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests and such interests are not overridden by your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms. |
Should we wish to use personal data for other specific purposes (including, if applicable, any purpose that requires your consent), we will contact you.
Why We May Transfer Your Personal Data
In certain circumstances we may be legally obliged to share personal data and other information with respect to your shareholding with the relevant regulatory authorities such as the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority or the Tax Information Authority. They, in turn, may exchange this information with foreign authorities, including tax authorities.
We anticipates disclosing personal data to persons who provide services to us and their respective affiliates (which may include certain entities located outside the United States, the Cayman Islands or the European Economic Area), who will process your personal data on our behalf.
The Data Protection Measures We Take
Any transfer of personal data by us or our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates outside of the Cayman Islands shall be in accordance with the requirements of the DPL.
We and our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates shall apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data, and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
We shall notify you of any personal data breach that is reasonably likely to result in a risk to your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms or those data subjects to whom the relevant personal data relates.
Certain Anti-takeover Provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual shareholder meetings.
Our authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and preference shares will be available for future issuances without shareholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved Class A ordinary shares and preference shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Securities Eligible for Future Sale
Immediately after this offering, we will have 32,200,000 ordinary shares (or 36,962,500 ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) issued and outstanding on an as-converted basis. Of
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these shares, the Class A ordinary shares sold in this offering (25,000,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised and 28,750,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any Class A ordinary shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the outstanding founder shares (6,250,000 founder shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised and 7,187,500 founder shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) and all of the outstanding private placement units (950,000 private placement units if the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised and 1,025,000 private placement units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering.
Rule 144
Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the twelve months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:
| 1% of the total number of ordinary shares then-outstanding, which will equal 322,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 369,625 shares if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full); or |
| the average weekly reported trading volume of the Class A ordinary shares during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale. |
Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.
Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:
| the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company; |
| the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; |
| the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding twelve months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Form 8-K reports; and |
| at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company. |
As a result, our sponsor will be able to sell its founder shares, private placement shares and private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
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Registration and Shareholder Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement units (including securities contained therein) to be issued in a private placement with our sponsor concurrently with the closing of this offering and may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, private placement shares that may be issued upon conversion of the overfunding loan, and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares that may be issued upon conversion of the warrants underlying any units issued as part of the working capital loans and Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the founder shares will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. 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. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lockup period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, as described in the following paragraph, and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Except as described herein, our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our sponsor with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.
In addition, pursuant to the registration and shareholder rights agreement, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as our sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
Listing of Securities
We have applied to have our units listed on the NYSE under the symbol CTII.U. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on the NYSE under the symbols CTII and CTII WS, respectively. The units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded following the completion of our initial business combination.
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The following summary of certain Cayman Islands and U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to an investment in our units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant, which we refer to collectively as our securities, is based upon laws and relevant interpretations thereof in effect as of the date of this prospectus, all of which are subject to change. This summary does not address all possible tax considerations relating to an investment in our Class A ordinary shares and warrants, such as the tax consequences under state, local and other tax laws.
Prospective investors are urged to consult their advisors on the possible tax consequences of investing in our securities under the laws of their country of citizenship, residence or domicile.
Cayman Islands Tax Considerations
The following is a discussion on certain Cayman Islands income tax consequences of an investment in the securities of the Company. The discussion is a general summary of present law, which is subject to prospective and retroactive change. It is not intended as tax advice, does not consider any investors particular circumstances, and does not consider tax consequences other than those arising under Cayman Islands law.
Under Existing Cayman Islands Laws
Payments of dividends and capital in respect of our securities will not be subject to taxation in the Cayman Islands and no withholding will be required on the payment of a dividend or capital to any holder of the securities nor will gains derived from the disposal of the securities be subject to Cayman Islands income or corporate tax. The Cayman Islands currently has no income, corporation or capital gains tax and no estate duty, inheritance tax or gift tax.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of the warrants. An instrument of transfer in respect of a warrant is stampable if executed in or brought into the Cayman Islands.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of our Class A ordinary shares or on an instrument of transfer in respect of such shares.
The Company has been incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company with limited liability and, as such, has applied for and expects to obtain after the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part an undertaking from the Financial Secretary of the Cayman Islands in the following form:
The Tax Concessions Act
(2018 Revision)
Undertaking as to Tax Concessions
In accordance with the provision of Section 6 of The Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision), the Financial Secretary undertakes with Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II (the Company):
1. | That no law which is hereafter enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to the Company or its operations; and |
2. | In addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall be payable: |
2.1 | On or in respect of the shares, debentures or other obligations of the Company; or |
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2.2 | by way of the withholding in whole or part, of any relevant payment as defined in the Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision). |
These concessions shall be for a period of 20 years from the date hereof.
Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations
General
The following discussion summarizes certain U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the ownership and disposition of our units (each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant) that are purchased in this offering by U.S. Holders (as defined below) and Non-U.S. Holders (as defined below). Because the components of a unit are generally separable at the option of the holder, the holder of a unit generally should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as the owner of the underlying Class A ordinary share and warrant components of the unit. As a result, the discussion below with respect to actual holders of Class A ordinary shares and warrants also should apply to holders of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants that constitute the units).
This discussion is limited to certain U.S. federal income tax considerations to beneficial owners of our securities who are initial purchasers of a unit pursuant to this offering and hold the unit and each component of the unit as a capital asset (generally, property held for investment) under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). This discussion assumes that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will trade separately and that any distributions made (or deemed made) by us on our Class A ordinary shares and any consideration received (or deemed received) by a holder in consideration for the sale or other disposition of our securities will be in U.S. dollars. This discussion is a summary only and does not consider all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be relevant to the ownership and disposition of a unit by a prospective investor in light of its particular circumstances, including considerations that may apply to investors subject to special rules, such as:
| our founders, sponsor, initial shareholders, officers or directors or holders of our Class B ordinary shares or private placement units; |
| banks, financial institutions or financial services entities; |
| broker-dealers; |
| taxpayers that are subject to the mark-to-market accounting rules; |
| tax-exempt entities; |
| S corporations; |
| governments or agencies or instrumentalities thereof; |
| insurance companies; |
| regulated investment companies; |
| real estate investment trusts; |
| controlled foreign corporations; |
| PFICs (as defined below); |
| Entities subject to the U.S. anti-inversion rules; |
| expatriates or former long-term residents of the United States; |
| persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more of our shares, by vote or value; |
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| persons that acquired our securities pursuant to an exercise of employee share options, in connection with employee share incentive plans or otherwise as compensation or in connection with services; |
| persons required to accelerate the recognition of any item of gross income with respect to Class A ordinary shares or warrants as a result of such income being recognized or an applicable financial statement; |
| persons that hold our securities as part of a straddle, constructive sale, hedging, conversion or other integrated or similar transaction; or |
| U.S. Holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar. |
Moreover, the discussion below is based upon the provisions of the Code, the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder and administrative and judicial interpretations thereof, all as of the date hereof, and those authorities may be repealed, revoked, modified or subject to differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis, so as to result in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those discussed below. Furthermore, this discussion does not address any aspect of U.S. federal non-income tax laws, alternative minimum, gift, estate or Medicare contribution tax laws, or state, local or non-U.S. tax laws and does not address, except as discussed herein, any tax reporting obligations of a holder of Class A ordinary shares or warrants.
We have not sought, and will not seek, a ruling from the IRS as to any U.S. federal income tax consequence described herein. The IRS may disagree with the discussion herein, and its determination may be upheld by a court. Moreover, there can be no assurance that future legislation, regulations, administrative rulings or court decisions will not adversely affect the accuracy of the statements in this discussion.
This discussion does not consider the tax treatment of partnerships or other pass-through entities or persons who hold our securities through such entities. If a partnership (or other entity or arrangement classified as a partnership or other pass-through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes) is the beneficial owner of our securities, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a partner or member in the partnership or other pass-through entity generally will depend on the status of the partner or member and the activities of the partner and the partnership or other pass-through entity. If you are a partner or member of a partnership (or other entity or arrangement classified as a partnership or other pass through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holding our securities, we urge you to consult your tax advisor.
THIS DISCUSSION IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, IS ONLY A SUMMARY OF CERTAIN UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX TREATMENT OF THE PROSPECTIVE INVESTOR IN OUR SECURITIES MAY BE AFFECTED BY MATTERS NOT DISCUSSED HEREIN AND DEPENDS IN SOME INSTANCES ON DETERMINATIONS OF FACT AND INTERPRETATIONS OF COMPLEX PROVISIONS OF U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAW FOR WHICH NO CLEAR PRECEDENT OR AUTHORITY MAY BE AVAILABLE. THIS DISCUSSION IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR CAREFUL TAX PLANNING. EACH PROSPECTIVE INVESTOR IN OUR SECURITIES IS URGED TO CONSULT ITS TAX ADVISOR WITH RESPECT TO THE PARTICULAR TAX CONSEQUENCES TO SUCH INVESTOR OF THE OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES, INCLUDING THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF ANY UNITED STATES FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, AND NON-U.S. TAX LAWS, AS WELL AS UNDER ANY APPLICABLE TAX TREATY.
Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit
No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of a unit or instruments similar to a unit for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one of our
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Class A ordinary shares and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant is exercisable to acquire one of our Class A ordinary shares. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in the foregoing manner. By purchasing a unit, you agree to adopt such treatment for U.S. federal income and other applicable tax purposes. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the one Class A ordinary share and the one-third of one redeemable warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. Under U.S. federal income tax law, each investor must make its own determination of such value based on all the relevant facts and circumstances. Therefore, we strongly urge each investor to consult its tax advisor regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The price allocated to each Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant should constitute the shareholders initial tax basis in such share or warrant. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the Class A ordinary share and the one-third of one redeemable warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant based on their respective relative fair market values at the time of disposition (as determined by each such unit holder based on all the relevant facts and circumstances). Neither the separation of the Class A ordinary share and the one-third of one redeemable warrant comprising a unit nor the combination of thirds of warrants into a single warrant should be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
The foregoing treatment of the units, the Class A ordinary shares and warrants and a holders purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts. Because there are no authorities that directly address instruments that are similar to the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Accordingly, each prospective investor is urged to consult its tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit). The balance of this discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
U.S. Holders
This section applies to you if you are a U.S. Holder. A U.S. Holder is a beneficial owner of our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants who or that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:
| an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; |
| a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is created or organized (or treated as created or organized) in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; |
| an estate whose income is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source; or |
| a trust, if (i) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons (as defined in the Code) have authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (ii) it has a valid election in effect under applicable Treasury Regulations to be treated as a U.S. person. |
Taxation of Distributions
Subject to the passive foreign investment company (PFIC) rules discussed below, a U.S. Holder generally will be required to include in gross income as dividends the amount of any distribution of cash or other property paid on our Class A ordinary shares to the extent the distribution is paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles). A cash distribution on such shares generally will be treated as foreign source dividend income for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Such dividends paid by us will be taxable to a corporate U.S. Holder at regular rates and will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction generally allowed to domestic corporations in respect of dividends received from other domestic corporations. Distributions in excess of such earnings and profits generally will be applied against and
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reduce the U.S. Holders basis in its Class A ordinary shares (but not below zero) and, to the extent in excess of such basis, will be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of such Class A ordinary shares (the treatment of which is described under Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants below).
With respect to non-corporate U.S. Holders, under tax laws currently in effect and subject to certain exceptions (including, but not limited to, dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), dividends generally will be taxed at the lower applicable long-term capital gains rate (see Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants below) only if our Class A ordinary shares are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States, the Company is not treated as a PFIC at the time the dividend was paid or in the preceding taxable year and certain other requirements are met (including with respect to holding period). It is unclear, however, whether certain redemption rights described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the availability of such lower rate for any dividends paid with respect to our Class A ordinary shares.
Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss on the sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants (including on our dissolution and liquidation if we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period). Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holders holding period for such Class A ordinary shares or warrants exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether certain redemption rights described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose.
The amount of gain or loss recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition generally will be equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A ordinary shares or warrants are held as part of units at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the Class A ordinary shares or warrants based upon the then relative fair market values of the Class A ordinary shares and the warrants comprising such units) and (ii) the U.S. Holders adjusted tax basis in its Class A ordinary shares or warrants so disposed of. A U.S. Holders adjusted tax basis in its Class A ordinary shares or warrants generally will equal the U.S. Holders acquisition cost (that is, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a Class A ordinary share or one-third of one redeemable warrant, as described above under Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit) reduced, in the case of a Class A ordinary share, by any prior distributions treated as a return of capital. See Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant below for a discussion regarding a U.S. Holders tax basis in the Class A ordinary share acquired pursuant to the exercise of a warrant. Long-term capital gain realized by a non-corporate U.S. Holder is currently eligible to be taxed at reduced rates of taxation. The deduction of capital losses is subject to certain limitations.
Redemption of Class A Ordinary Shares
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, in the event that a U.S. Holders Class A ordinary shares are redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under Description of Securities Ordinary Shares or if we purchase a U.S. Holders Class A ordinary shares in an open market transaction, the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether such redemption or purchase by us qualifies as a sale of the Class A ordinary shares under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption or purchase by us qualifies as a sale of Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder will be treated as described above under Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants. If the redemption or purchase by us does not qualify as a sale of Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution with the tax consequences described above under Taxation of Distributions. Whether a redemption or purchase by us qualifies for sale treatment will
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depend largely on the total number of our shares treated as held by the U.S. Holder (including any shares constructively owned by the U.S. Holder as described in the following paragraph, including as a result of owning warrants) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after such redemption or purchase by us. A redemption or purchase by us of Class A ordinary shares generally will be treated as a sale of the Class A ordinary shares (rather than as a corporate distribution) if such redemption or purchase by us (i) is substantially disproportionate with respect to the U.S. Holder, (ii) results in a complete termination of the U.S. Holders interest in us or (iii) is not essentially equivalent to a dividend with respect to the U.S. Holder. These tests are explained more fully below.
In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are satisfied, a U.S. Holder takes into account not only our shares actually owned by the U.S. Holder, but also our shares that are constructively owned by such holder. A U.S. Holder may constructively own, in addition to shares owned directly, shares owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. Holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. Holder, as well as any shares the U.S. Holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include Class A ordinary shares which could be acquired by such U.S. Holder pursuant to the exercise of the warrants. In order to meet the substantially disproportionate test, the percentage of our issued and outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately following the redemption or purchase by us of Class A ordinary shares must, among other requirements, be less than 80% of the percentage of our issued and outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately before the redemption or purchase by us. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, the Class A ordinary shares may not be treated as voting shares for this purpose and, consequently, this substantially disproportionate test may not be applicable. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. Holders interest if either (i) all of our shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed or (ii) all of our shares actually owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed and the U.S. Holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of shares owned by certain family members and the U.S. Holder does not constructively own any of our other shares and otherwise complies with specific conditions. Whether the redemption or purchase by us of the Class A ordinary shares is essentially equivalent to a dividend with respect to a U.S. Holder generally will depend on the particular facts and circumstances applicable to the U.S. Holder, but generally the redemption will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend with respect to a U.S. Holder if such redemption results in a meaningful reduction of such U.S. Holders proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. Holders proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. However, the IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority shareholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a meaningful reduction. U.S. Holders are urged to consult with their tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption or purchase by us of any Class A ordinary shares.
If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, then the redemption or purchase by us will be treated as a corporate distribution and the tax effects will be as described under Taxation of Distributions above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. Holder in the redeemed Class A ordinary shares will be added to the U.S. Holders adjusted tax basis in its remaining shares, or, if it has none, to the U.S. Holders adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other shares constructively owned by it.
Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below and except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. Holder generally will not recognize gain or loss upon the acquisition of a Class A ordinary share on the exercise of a warrant for cash. A U.S. Holders initial tax basis in a Class A ordinary share received upon exercise of the warrant generally will equal the sum of the U.S. Holders initial investment in the warrant (that is, the portion of the U.S. Holders purchase price for the units that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit) and the exercise price. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holders holding period for the Class A ordinary share received will commence on the
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date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrant. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holders tax basis in the warrant.
The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current law. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a cashless exercise may not be taxable, either because the exercise is not a realization event or because the exercise is treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either situation, a U.S. Holders tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares received generally should equal the U.S. Holders tax basis in the warrants. If the cashless exercise was not a realization event, it is unclear whether a U.S. Holders holding period for the Class A ordinary shares received would be treated as commencing on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A ordinary shares received would include the holding period of the warrants.
It is also possible that a cashless exercise may be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized. In such event, a U.S. Holder may be deemed to have surrendered a number of warrants having an aggregate fair market value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants to be exercised. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, the U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. Holders tax basis in such warrants. In this case, a U.S. Holders tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares received would equal the sum of the U.S. Holders initial investment in the warrants exercised (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holders purchase price for the units that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit) and the exercise price of such warrants. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holders holding period for the Class A ordinary shares would commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrant.
Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, including when a U.S. Holders holding period would commence with respect to the Class A ordinary shares received, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.
Subject to the PFIC rules described below, if we redeem warrants for cash pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders WarrantsRedemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction, such redemption or purchase by us generally will be treated as a taxable disposition to the U.S. Holder, taxed as described above under Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants. The U.S. federal income tax consequences of an exercise of a warrant occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrant for $0.01 as described in the section of this prospectus entitled Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders WarrantsRedemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 are unclear under current law. In the case of a cashless exercise, the exercise may be treated either as if we redeemed such warrant for Class A ordinary shares or as an exercise of the warrant. If the cashless exercise of a warrant for Class A ordinary shares is treated as a redemption, then, such redemption generally should be treated as a tax-deferred recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in which case a U.S. Holder should not recognize any gain or loss on such redemption, and accordingly, a U.S. Holders basis in the Class A ordinary shares received should equal the U.S. Holders basis in the warrants redeemed and the holding period of the Class A ordinary shares received should include the U.S. Holders holding period of the warrant. If the cashless exercise of a warrant is treated as the exercise of a warrant, the U.S. federal income tax consequences generally should be similar to as described above in the second and third paragraphs under the heading U.S. HoldersExercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant. In the case of an exercise of a warrant
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for cash, the U.S. federal income tax treatment generally should be as described above in the first paragraph under the heading U.S. HoldersExercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant. Due to the lack of clarity under current law regarding the treatment of an exercise of a warrant after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrant, there can be no assurance as to which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of the exercise of a warrant occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrant as described above.
Possible Constructive Distributions
The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of Class A ordinary shares for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders Warrants. An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. The U.S. Holders of the warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the U.S. Holders proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of Class A ordinary shares that would be obtained upon exercise or, depending on the circumstances, through a decrease to the exercise price, including, for example, the decrease to the exercise price of the warrants where additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share, as described under Description of SecuritiesWarrantsAnti-Dilution Adjustments) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property to the holders of our Class A ordinary shares which is taxable to the U.S. Holders of such Class A ordinary shares as described under Taxation of Distributions above. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as described under that section in the same manner as if the U.S. Holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest. For certain information reporting purposes, we are required to determine the date and amount of any such constructive distributions. Proposed Treasury regulations, which we may rely on prior to the issuance of final regulations, specify how the date and amount of constructive distributions are determined.
Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules
A foreign (i.e., non-U.S.) corporation will be classified as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes if either (i) at least 75% of its gross income in a taxable year, including its pro rata share of the gross income of any corporation in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, is passive income or (ii) at least 50% of its assets in a taxable year (ordinarily determined based on fair market value and averaged quarterly over the year), including its pro rata share of the assets of any corporation in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, are held for the production of, or produce, passive income. Passive income generally includes, among other things, dividends, interest, rents and royalties (other than rents or royalties derived from the active conduct of a trade or business) and gains from the disposition of assets giving rise to passive income.
Because we are a blank check company, with no current active operating business, we believe that it is likely that we will meet the PFIC asset and/or income test for our current taxable year. However, pursuant to a startup exception, a corporation will not be a PFIC for the first taxable year the corporation has gross income (the startup year), if (1) no predecessor of the corporation was a PFIC; (2) the corporation satisfies the IRS that it will not be a PFIC for either of the first two taxable years following the startup year; and (3) the corporation is not in fact a PFIC for either of those years. The applicability of the startup exception to us is uncertain and will not be known until after the close of our current taxable year (and perhaps until after the end of our first two taxable years following our startup year). After the acquisition of a company or assets in a business combination, we may still meet one of the PFIC tests depending on the timing of the acquisition and the amount of our passive income and assets as well as the passive income and assets of the acquired business. If the company that we acquire in a business combination is a PFIC (or we do not complete a business acquisition by the end of the first taxable year after the taxable year of our formation), then we will likely not qualify for the startup exception and
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will be a PFIC for our current taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year (and, in the case of the startup exception to our current taxable year, perhaps not until after the end of our two taxable years following our startup year). Accordingly, there can be no assurance with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any future taxable year.
Although our PFIC status is determined annually, an initial determination that our company is a PFIC for any taxable year will generally apply for subsequent years to a U.S. Holder who held (or is deemed to have held) Class A ordinary shares or warrants while we were a PFIC, whether or not we meet the test for PFIC status in those subsequent years. If we are determined to be a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants and, in the case of our Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder did not make either a timely mark-to-market election or a qualified electing fund (QEF) election for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which the U.S. Holder held (or was deemed to hold) Class A ordinary shares, as described below, such U.S. Holder generally will be subject to special and adverse rules with respect to (i) any gain recognized by the U.S. Holder on the sale or other disposition of its Class A ordinary shares or warrants and (ii) any excess distribution made to the U.S. Holder (generally, any distributions to such U.S. Holder during a taxable year of the U.S. Holder that are greater than 125% of the average annual distributions received by such U.S. Holder in respect of the Class A ordinary shares during the three preceding taxable years of such U.S. Holder or, if shorter, such U.S. Holders holding period for the Class A ordinary shares).
Under these rules:
| the U.S. Holders gain or excess distribution will be allocated ratably over the U.S. Holders holding period for the Class A ordinary shares or warrants; |
| the amount allocated to the U.S. Holders taxable year in which the U.S. Holder recognized the gain or received the excess distribution, or to the period in the U.S. Holders holding period before the first day of our first taxable year in which we are a PFIC, will be taxed as ordinary income; |
| the amount allocated to other taxable years (or portions thereof) of the U.S. Holder and included in its holding period will be taxed at the highest tax rate in effect for that year and applicable to the U.S. Holder; and |
| an additional tax equal to the interest charge generally applicable to underpayments of tax will be imposed on the U.S. Holder with respect to the tax attributable to each such other taxable year of the U.S. Holder. |
In general, if we are determined to be a PFIC, a U.S. Holder may be able to avoid the PFIC tax consequences described above in respect of our Class A ordinary shares (but not our warrants) by making and maintaining a timely and valid QEF election (if eligible to do so) to include in income its pro rata share of our net capital gains (as long-term capital gain) and other earnings and profits (as ordinary income), on a current basis, in each case whether or not distributed, in the taxable year of the U.S. Holder in which or with which our taxable year ends. A U.S. Holder generally may make a separate election to defer the payment of taxes on undistributed income inclusions under the QEF rules, but if deferred, any such taxes will be subject to an interest charge.
It is not entirely clear how various aspects of the PFIC rules apply to the warrants. However, a U.S. Holder may not make a QEF election with respect to its warrants to acquire our Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if a U.S. Holder sells or otherwise disposes of such warrants (other than upon exercise of such warrants for cash) and we were a PFIC at any time during the U.S. Holders holding period of such warrants, any gain recognized generally will be treated as an excess distribution, taxed as described above. If a U.S. Holder that exercises such warrants properly makes and maintains a QEF election with respect to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares (or has previously made a QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares), the QEF election will apply to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares. Notwithstanding any such QEF election, the adverse
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tax consequences relating to PFIC shares, adjusted to take into account the current income inclusions resulting from the QEF election, will continue to apply with respect to such newly acquired Class A ordinary shares (which generally will be deemed to have a holding period for purposes of the PFIC rules that includes the period the U.S. Holder held the warrants), unless the U.S. Holder makes a purging election under the PFIC rules. Under one type of purging election, the U.S. Holder will be deemed to have sold such shares at their fair market value and any gain recognized on such deemed sale will be treated as an excess distribution, as described above. Under another type of purging election, an electing U.S. Holder will be treated as having received as an excess distribution its ratable share of our earnings and profits determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In order for a U.S. Holder to make the second election, we must also be a controlled foreign corporation as defined in the Code, and there are no assurances that we will so qualify. As a result of such purging election, the U.S. Holder will generally have a new basis and holding period in the Class A ordinary shares acquired upon the exercise of the warrants for purposes of the PFIC rules. U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors as to the application of the rules governing purging elections to their particular circumstances (including a potential separate deemed dividend purging election that may be available if we are a controlled foreign corporation).
The QEF election is made on a shareholder-by-shareholder basis and, once made, can be revoked only with the consent of the IRS. A U.S. Holder generally makes a QEF election by attaching a completed IRS Form 8621 (Information Return by a Shareholder of a Passive Foreign Investment Company or Qualified Electing Fund), including the information provided in a PFIC Annual Information Statement, to a timely filed U.S. federal income tax return for the tax year to which the election relates. Retroactive QEF elections generally may be made only by filing a protective statement with such return and if certain other conditions are met or with the consent of the IRS. U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the availability and tax consequences of a retroactive QEF election under their particular circumstances.
In order to comply with the requirements of a QEF election, a U.S. Holder must receive a PFIC annual information statement from us. If we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the IRS may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a QEF election, but there is no assurance that we will timely provide such required information. There is also no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of our status as a PFIC in the future or of the required information to be provided.
If a U.S. Holder has made a QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares, and the excess distribution rules discussed above do not apply to such shares (because of a timely QEF election for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which the U.S. Holder holds (or is deemed to hold) such shares or a purge of the PFIC taint pursuant to a purging election, as described above), any gain recognized on the sale of our Class A ordinary shares generally will be taxable as capital gain and no additional tax or interest charge will be imposed under the PFIC rules. As discussed above, if we are a PFIC for any taxable year, a U.S. Holder of our Class A ordinary shares that has made a QEF election will be currently taxed on its pro rata share of our earnings and profits, whether or not distributed for such year. A subsequent distribution of such earnings and profits that were previously included in income generally should not be taxable when distributed to such U.S. Holder. The tax basis of a U.S. Holders shares in a QEF will be increased by amounts that are included in income, and decreased by amounts distributed but not taxed as dividends, under the above rules. In addition, if we are not a PFIC for any taxable year, such U.S. Holder will not be subject to the QEF inclusion regime with respect to our Class A ordinary shares for such taxable year.
Alternatively, if a U.S. Holder, at the close of its taxable year, owns shares in a PFIC that are treated as marketable stock the U.S. Holder may mark to market election with respect to such shares for such taxable year. If the U.S. holder makes a valid mark-to-market election for the first taxable year of the U.S. Holder in which the U.S. Holder holds (or is deemed to hold) Class A ordinary shares in us and for which we are determined to be a PFIC, such U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to the PFIC rules described above in respect of its Class A ordinary shares. Instead, in general, the U.S. Holder will include as ordinary income each year the excess, if any, of the fair market value of its Class A ordinary shares at the end of its taxable year over its adjusted basis in its
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Class A ordinary shares. These amounts of ordinary income would not be eligible for the favorable tax rates applicable to qualified dividend income or long-term capital gains. The U.S. Holder also will be allowed to recognize an ordinary loss in respect of the excess, if any, of its adjusted basis in its Class A ordinary shares over the fair market value of its Class A ordinary shares at the end of its taxable year (but only to the extent of the net amount of previously included income as a result of the mark-to-market election). The U.S. Holders basis in its Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted to reflect any such income or loss amounts, and any further gain recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition of its Class A ordinary shares will be treated as ordinary income. Currently, a mark-to-market election may not be made with respect to warrants.
The mark-to-market election is available only for marketable stock, which is generally, stock that is regularly traded on a national securities exchange that is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the NYSE (on which we intend to list the Class A ordinary shares), or on a foreign exchange or market that the IRS determines has rules sufficient to ensure that the market price represents a legitimate and sound fair market value. If made, a mark-to-market election would be effective for the taxable year for which the election was made and for all subsequent taxable years unless the ordinary shares ceased to qualify as marketable stock for purposes of the PFIC rules or the IRS consented to the revocation of the election. Moreover, a mark-to-market election made with respect to our Class A ordinary shares would not apply to any lower-tier PFICs in which we hold an interest. U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the availability and tax consequences of a mark-to-market election in respect to our Class A ordinary shares under their particular circumstances.
If we are a PFIC and, at any time, have a foreign subsidiary that is classified as a PFIC, U.S. Holders generally would be deemed to own a portion of the shares of such lower-tier PFIC, and generally could incur liability for the deferred tax and interest charge described above if we receive a distribution from, or dispose of all or part of our interest in, the lower-tier PFIC or the U.S. Holders otherwise were deemed to have disposed of an interest in the lower-tier PFIC. Upon written request, we will endeavor to cause any lower-tier PFIC to provide to a U.S. Holder the information that may be required to make or maintain a QEF election with respect to the lower-tier PFIC. There can be no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of the status of any such lower-tier PFIC. In addition, we may not hold a controlling interest in any such lower-tier PFIC and thus there can be no assurance we will be able to cause the lower-tier PFIC to provide such required information. U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the tax issues raised by lower-tier PFICs.
A U.S. Holder that owns (or is deemed to own) shares in a PFIC during any taxable year of the U.S. Holder, may have to file an IRS Form 8621 (whether or not a QEF or mark-to-market election is made) and such other information as may be required by the U.S. Treasury Department. Failure to do so, if required, will extend the statute of limitations until such required information is furnished to the IRS.
The rules dealing with PFICs and with the QEF and mark-to-market elections are very complex and are affected by various factors in addition to those described above. Accordingly, U.S. Holders of our Class A ordinary shares and warrants are urged to consult their tax advisors concerning the application of the PFIC rules to our securities under their particular circumstances.
Tax Reporting
Certain U.S. Holders may be required to file an IRS Form 926 (Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation) to report a transfer of property (including cash) to us. Substantial penalties may be imposed on a U.S. Holder that fails to comply with this reporting requirement and the period of limitations on assessment and collection of U.S. federal income taxes will be extended in the event of a failure to comply. Furthermore, certain U.S. Holders who are individuals and certain entities will be required to report information with respect to such U.S. Holders investment in specified foreign financial assets on IRS Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets), subject to certain exceptions. Specified foreign financial assets generally include any financial account maintained with a non-U.S. financial institution and should also include the Class A ordinary shares and
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warrants if they are not held in an account maintained with a U.S. financial institution. Persons who are required to report specified foreign financial assets and fail to do so may be subject to substantial penalties and the period of limitations on assessment and collection of U.S. federal income taxes will generally be extended in the event of a failure to comply. Potential investors are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the foreign financial asset and other reporting obligations and their application to an investment in our Class A ordinary shares and warrants.
Non-U.S. Holders
This section applies to you if you are a Non-U.S. Holder. As used herein, the term Non-U.S. Holder means a beneficial owner of our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants (other than a partnership or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) who or that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes:
| a non-resident alien individual (other than certain former citizens and residents of the United States subject to U.S. tax as expatriates); |
| a foreign corporation; or |
| an estate or trust that is not a U.S. Holder; |
but generally does not include an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition. If you are such an individual, you are urged to consult your tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the sale or other disposition of our securities.
Dividends (including constructive distributions) paid or deemed paid to a Non-U.S. Holder in respect of our Class A ordinary shares generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax, unless the dividends are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holders conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, are attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base that such holder maintains in the United States). In addition, a Non-U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain attributable to a sale or other disposition of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants unless such gain is effectively connected with its conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, is attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base that such holder maintains in the United States).
Dividends (including constructive distributions) and gains that are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holders conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, are attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base in the United States) generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the same regular U.S. federal income tax rates applicable to a comparable U.S. Holder and, in the case of a Non-U.S. Holder that is a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, also may be subject to an additional branch profits tax at a 30% rate or a lower applicable tax treaty rate.
The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption or purchase by us of a Non-U.S. Holders Class A ordinary shares will generally correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption or purchase by us of a U.S. Holders Class A ordinary shares, as described under U.S. HoldersRedemption of Class A Ordinary Shares above, and the consequences of the redemption or purchase by us to the Non-U.S. Holder will be as described in the paragraphs above under the heading Non-U.S. Holders based on such characterization.
The characterization of U.S. federal income tax purposes of a Non-U.S. Holders exercise of a warrant, or the lapse or redemption of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. Holder, generally will correspond to the U.S. characterization described under U.S. HoldersExercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant, above, although to the extent a cashless exercise or redemption results in a taxable exchange, the consequences would be similar to those described in the preceding paragraphs above for a Non-U.S. Holders gain on the sale or other disposition of our securities.
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Information Reporting and Backup Withholding
Dividend payments with respect to our Class A ordinary shares and proceeds from the sale, exchange or redemption of our Class A ordinary shares may be subject to information reporting to the IRS and possible United States backup withholding. Backup withholding will not apply, however, to a U.S. Holder who furnishes a correct taxpayer identification number and makes other required certifications, or who is otherwise exempt from backup withholding and establishes such exempt status. A Non-U.S. Holder generally will eliminate the requirement for information reporting and backup withholding by providing certification of its foreign status, under penalties of perjury, on a duly executed applicable IRS Form W-8 or by otherwise establishing an exemption.
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Amounts withheld as backup withholding may be credited against a holders U.S. federal income tax liability, and a holder generally may obtain a refund of any excess amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules by timely filing the appropriate claim for refund with the IRS and furnishing any required information.
The U.S. federal income tax discussion set forth above is included for general information only and may not be applicable depending upon a holders particular situation. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences to them of the ownership and disposition of our Class A ordinary shares and warrants, including the tax consequences under U.S. federal state, and local, estate, non-U.S. and other tax laws and tax treaties and the possible effects of changes in U.S. or other tax laws.
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Under the terms and subject to the conditions contained in an underwriting agreement dated the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to sell to the underwriters named below the following respective numbers of units:
Underwriters |
Number of Units |
|||
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. |
||||
|
|
|||
PJT Partners LP. |
||||
|
|
|||
Total |
25,000,000 | |||
|
|
The underwriting agreement provides that the underwriters are obligated to purchase all the units in this offering if any are purchased, other than those units covered by the over-allotment option described below.
We have granted to the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase on a pro rata basis up to 3,750,000 additional units at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The option may be exercised only to cover any over-allotments of units.
The underwriters propose to offer the units initially at the public offering price on the cover page of this prospectus and to selling group members at that price less a selling concession of $ per unit.
The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option. $0.35 per unit, or $8,750,000 (or $10,062,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), of deferred underwriting commissions will be paid to the underwriters upon the completion of our initial business combination.
Paid By Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II |
||||||||
No Exercise | Full Exercise | |||||||
Per Unit(1) |
$ | 0.55 | $ | 0.55 | ||||
Total(1) |
$ | 13,750,000 | $ | 15,812,500 |
(1) | Includes $0.35 per unit, or $8,750,000 in the aggregate (or $10,062,500 in the aggregate if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein and released to the underwriters only upon the consummation of an initial business combination. |
We estimate that our out-of-pocket expenses for this offering will be approximately $1,500,000. We have agreed to pay for the FINRA-related fees and expenses of the underwriters legal counsel, not to exceed $25,000.
The underwriters have informed us that the underwriters do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.
We, our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that we will not offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, without the prior written consent of the representatives of the underwriters for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, any units, warrants, ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, ordinary shares; provided, however, that we may (1) issue and sell the private placement units; (2) issue and sell the additional units to cover our underwriters over-allotment option (if any); (3) register with the SEC pursuant to an agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of this offering, the resale of the private placement units and the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and the founder shares; and (4) issue securities in connection with our
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initial business combination. However, the foregoing shall not apply to the forfeiture of any founder shares pursuant to their terms or any transfer of founder shares to any current or future independent director of the Company (as long as such current or future independent director is subject to the terms of the letter agreement, filed herewith, at the time of such transfer; and as long as, to the extent any Section 16 reporting obligation is triggered as a result of such transfer, any related Section 16 filing includes a practical explanation as to the nature of the transfer). The representatives of the underwriters in their sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.
Our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property (except pursuant to limited exceptions as described under Principal ShareholdersTransfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units). Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our sponsor and our directors and executive officers with respect to any founder shares.
The private placement units, private placement shares, private placement warrants and Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except pursuant to limited exceptions as described under Principal ShareholdersTransfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units).
We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities under the Securities Act, or contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make in that respect.
We have applied to have our units listed on the NYSE under the symbol CTII.U. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on the NYSE under the symbols CTII and CTII WS, respectively.
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and the underwriters.
The determination of our per unit offering price was more arbitrary than would typically be the case if we were an operating company. Among the factors considered in determining the initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.
The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.
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In connection with this offering, the underwriters may engage in stabilizing transactions, over-allotment transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
| Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase the underlying security so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum. |
| Over-allotment involves sales by the underwriters of units in excess of the number of units the underwriters are obligated to purchase, which creates a syndicate short position. The short position may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of units over-allotted by the underwriters is not greater than the number of units that they may purchase in the over-allotment option. In a naked short position, the number of units involved is greater than the number of units in the over-allotment option. The underwriters may close out any covered short position by either exercising their over-allotment option and/or purchasing units in the open market. |
| Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of the units in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions. In determining the source of units to close out the short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the over-allotment option. If the underwriters sell more units than could be covered by the over-allotment option, a naked short position, the position can only be closed out by buying units in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there could be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in this offering. |
| Penalty bids permit the representative to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the units originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions. |
These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our units or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. As a result, the price of our units may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. These transactions may be effected on the NYSE or otherwise and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.
We have not entered into any understanding or arrangement to engage, and are under no contractual obligation to engage the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, but we may to do so at our discretion. However, the underwriters for this offering (or their affiliates) may introduce us to potential target businesses, provide financial advisory services to us in connection with a business combination or assist us in raising additional capital in the future, including by acting as a placement agent in a private offering or underwriting or arranging debt financing. We may also pay the firms acting as underwriters for this offering (or their affiliates) a finders fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of the business combination contemplated in this prospectus. Any compensation paid to the firms acting as underwriters for this offering (or their affiliates) for services provided to us after this offering will be fair and reasonable and determined at that time in an arms length negotiation. Any such compensation that is paid to, or any arrangement with respect to the payment of such compensation that is entered into with, such firms (or their affiliates) within 60 days from the date of this prospectus, may be considered by FINRA to be compensation with respect to this offering unless otherwise excluded from such characterization under applicable FINRA rules. Because the underwriters for this offering are entitled to the deferred portion of their underwriting compensation only if an initial business combination is completed within the specified timeframe, and any additional compensation to such firms (or their affiliates) for the other services described above may also be conditioned on closing of a business combination transaction, these firms (and their affiliates) may have a potential conflict of interest in connection with the provision of such services.
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The underwriters and their affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates. They have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions.
In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriters and their affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.
Any fees we may pay the underwriters or their affiliates for services rendered to us after this offering may be contingent on the completion of a business combination and may include non-cash compensation. The underwriters or their affiliates that provide these services to us may have a potential conflict of interest given that the underwriters are entitled to the deferred portion of their underwriting compensation for this offering only if an initial business combination is completed within the specified timeframe.
A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the websites maintained by the underwriters, or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering and the underwriters participating in this offering may distribute prospectuses electronically. The underwriters may allocate a number of units for sale to its online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the underwriters that will make internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations.
The units are offered for sale in the United States and other jurisdictions where it is lawful to make such offers.
The underwriters have represented and agreed that they have not offered, sold or delivered and will not offer, sell or deliver any of the units directly or indirectly, or distribute this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, in or from any jurisdiction except under circumstances that will result in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations thereof and that will not impose any obligations on us except as set forth in the underwriting agreement.
European Economic Area
In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Regulation (each, a Relevant Member State) an offer to the public of our units may not be made in that Relevant Member State, except that an offer to the public in that Relevant Member State of our units may be made at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation:
a) | to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Regulation; |
b) | to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representative of the underwriters for any such offer; or |
c) | in any other circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Regulation, provided that no such offer of shares of our units shall result in a requirement for the publication by us or any underwriters of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation. |
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an offer to the public in relation to our units in any Relevant Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and our units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase our units, as the
186
same may be varied in that Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Member State, the expression Prospectus Regulation means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129, and includes any relevant implementing measure in the Relevant Member State.
This European Economic Area selling restriction is in addition to any other selling restrictions set out below.
Notice to Investors in the United Kingdom
In relation to the United Kingdom, no units have been offered or will be offered pursuant to this offering to the public in the United Kingdom prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the shares that either (i) has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority, or (ii) is to be treated as if it had been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority in accordance with the transitional provision in Regulation 74 of the Prospectus (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, except that offers of shares may be made to the public in the United Kingdom at any time under the following exemptions under the UK Prospectus Regulation:
a) | to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation; |
b) | to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation); or |
c) | in any other circumstances falling within section 86 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), |
provided that no such offer of shares shall require the Issuer or any representative to publish a prospectus pursuant to section 85 of the FSMA or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the UK Prospectus Regulation.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an offer to the public in relation to any shares in any relevant state means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any shares to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any shares, and the expression UK Prospectus Regulation means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
The underwriter has represented and agreed that:
a) | it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of FSMA) received by it in connection with the issue or sale of any units in circumstances which Section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply to the issuer; and |
b) | it has complied and will comply with all applicable provisions of the FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to any units in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom. |
Notice to Residents of Japan
The units have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948, as amended) (the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law), and the units have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan (which term as used herein means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan), or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to a resident of Japan, except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law and any other applicable laws, regulations and guidelines promulgated by the relevant Japanese governmental and regulatory authorities and in effect at the relevant time.
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Notice to Residents of Hong Kong
The underwriters and each of their affiliates have not (1) offered or sold, and will not offer or sell, in Hong Kong, by means of any document, our units other than (A) to professional investors as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap.571) of Hong Kong and any rules made under that Ordinance or (B) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a prospectus as defined in the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32 of Hong Kong) or which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of that Ordinance or (2) issued or had in its possession for the purposes of issue, and will not issue or have in its possession for the purposes of issue, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere any advertisement, invitation or document relating to our units which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to our securities which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to professional investors as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance and any rules made under that Ordinance. The contents of this document have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Hong Kong. You are advised to exercise caution in relation to the offer. If you are in any doubt about any of the contents of this document, you should obtain independent professional advice.
Notice to Residents of Singapore
This prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units has not been and will not be registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the units will be offered in Singapore pursuant to exemptions under Section 274 and Section 275 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the Securities and Futures Act). Accordingly our units may not be offered or sold, or be the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, nor may this prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units be circulated or distributed, whether directly or indirectly, to the public or any member of the public in Singapore other than (a) to an institutional investor or other person specified in Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, (b) to a sophisticated investor, and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the Securities and Futures Act or (c) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the Securities and Futures Act.
Solely for the purposes of its obligations pursuant to Sections 309B(1)(a) and 309B(1)(c) of the Securities and Futures Act, the Company has determined, and hereby notifies all relevant persons (as defined in Section 309A of the Securities and Futures Act) that the Securities are prescribed capital markets products (as defined in the Securities and Futures (Capital Markets Products) Regulations 2018 of Singapore) and Excluded Investment Products (as defined in MAS Notice SFA 04-N12: Notice on the Sale of Investment Products and MAS Notice FAA-N16: Notice on Recommendations on Investment Products).
Notice to Residents of Germany
Each person who is in possession of this prospectus is aware that no German sales prospectus (Verkaufsprospekt) within the meaning of the Securities Sales Prospectus Act (Wertpapier-Verkaufsprospektgesetz, the Act) of the Federal Republic of Germany has been or will be published with respect to our units. In particular, the underwriters have represented that they have not engaged and have agreed that they will not engage in a public offering (offentliches Angebot) within the meaning of the Act with respect to any of our units otherwise then in accordance with the Act and all other applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Notice to Residents of France
The units are being issued and sold outside the Republic of France and that, in connection with their initial distribution, it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell, directly or indirectly, any units to the public in the Republic of France, and that it has not distributed and will not distribute or cause to be distributed to the public in the Republic of France this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, and that such offers,
188
sales and distributions have been and will be made in the Republic of France only to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) in accordance with Article L.411-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code and decrét no. 98-880 dated October 1, 1998.
Notice to Residents of the Netherlands
Our units may not be offered, sold, transferred or delivered in or from the Netherlands as part of their initial distribution or at any time thereafter, directly or indirectly, other than to, individuals or legal entities situated in The Netherlands who or which trade or invest in securities in the conduct of a business or profession (which includes banks, securities intermediaries (including dealers and brokers), insurance companies, pension funds, collective investment institution, central governments, large international and supranational organizations, other institutional investors and other parties, including treasury departments of commercial enterprises, which as an ancillary activity regularly invest in securities; hereinafter, Professional Investors); provided that in the offer, prospectus and in any other documents or advertisements in which a forthcoming offering of our units is publicly announced (whether electronically or otherwise) in The Netherlands it is stated that such offer is and will be exclusively made to such Professional Investors. Individual or legal entities who are not Professional Investors may not participate in the offering of our units, and this prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units may not be considered an offer or the prospect of an offer to sell or exchange our units.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the Cayman Islands
No invitation, whether directly or indirectly, may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for our securities.
Notice to Canadian Residents
Resale Restrictions
The distribution of units in Canada is being made only in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia on a private placement basis exempt from the requirement that we prepare and file a prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each province where trades of these securities are made. Any resale of the units in Canada must be made under applicable securities laws which may vary depending on the relevant jurisdiction, and which may require resales to be made under available statutory exemptions or under a discretionary exemption granted by the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority. Purchasers are advised to seek legal advice prior to any resale of the securities.
Representations of Canadian Purchasers
By purchasing units in Canada and accepting delivery of a purchase confirmation, a purchaser is representing to us and the dealer from whom the purchase confirmation is received that:
| the purchaser is entitled under applicable provincial securities laws to purchase the units without the benefit of a prospectus qualified under those securities laws as it is an accredited investor as defined under National Instrument 45-106Prospectus Exemptions; |
| the purchaser is a permitted client as defined in National Instrument 31-103Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations; |
| where required by law, the purchaser is purchasing as principal and not as agent; and |
| the purchaser has reviewed the text above under Resale Restrictions. |
Conflicts of Interest
Canadian purchasers are hereby notified that the representative of the underwriters is relying on the exemption set out in section 3A.3 or 3A.4, if applicable, of National Instrument 33-105Underwriting Conflicts from having to provide certain conflict of interest disclosure in this document.
189
Statutory Rights of Action
Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if the prospectus (including any amendment thereto) such as this document contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchasers province or territory. The purchaser of these securities in Canada should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchasers province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.
Enforcement of Legal Rights
All of our directors and officers as well as the experts named herein may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible for Canadian purchasers to effect service of process within Canada upon us or those persons. All or a substantial portion of our assets and the assets of those persons may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible to satisfy a judgment against us or those persons in Canada or to enforce a judgment obtained in Canadian courts against us or those persons outside of Canada.
Taxation and Eligibility for Investment
Canadian purchasers of units should consult their own legal and tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences of an investment in the units in their particular circumstances and about the eligibility of the units for investment by the purchaser under relevant Canadian legislation.
190
Kirkland & Ellis LLP, New York, New York will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to units and warrants. Maples and Calder will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to the ordinary shares and matters of Cayman Islands law. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, New York, New York advised the underwriters in connection with the offering of the securities.
The financial statements of Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II as of February 10, 2021, and for the period from February 4, 2021 (inception) through February 10, 2021, appearing in this prospectus have been audited by WithumSmith+Brown, PC, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon, appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.
Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SECs website at www.sec.gov.
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CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Page | ||||
Audited Financial Statements of Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II: |
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F-2 | ||||
Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2021 (unaudited) and February 10, 2021 |
F-3 | |||
F-4 | ||||
F-5 | ||||
F-6 | ||||
F-7 |
F-1
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholder and the Board of Directors of
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II (the Company) as of February 10, 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders equity and cash flows for the period from February 4, 2021 (inception) through February 10, 2021, 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 February 10, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from February 4, 2021 (inception) through February 10, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Companys management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Companys 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 Companys internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC
We have served as the Companys auditor since 2021.
New York, New York
November 24, 2021
F-2
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
BALANCE SHEETS
September 30, 2021 |
February 10, 2021 |
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(Unaudited) | ||||||||
Assets |
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Deferred offering costs associated with proposed public offering |
$ | 533,630 | $ | 55,274 | ||||
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|
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|
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Total Assets |
$ | 533,630 | $ | 55,274 | ||||
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Liabilities and Shareholders Equity |
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Liabilities |
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Current liabilities: |
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Accrued expenses |
$ | 286,693 | $ | 35,774 | ||||
Promissory note - related party |
230,848 | | ||||||
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Total Current liabilities |
517,541 | 35,774 | ||||||
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Commitments and Contingencies (Note 6) |
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Shareholders Equity |
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Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding |
| | ||||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding |
| | ||||||
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 7,187,500 issued and outstanding (1)(2) |
719 | 719 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital |
24,281 | 24,281 | ||||||
Accumulated deficit |
(8,911 | ) | (5,500 | ) | ||||
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Total Shareholders Equity |
16,089 | 19,500 | ||||||
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Total Liabilities and Shareholders Equity |
$ | 533,630 | $ | 55,274 | ||||
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(1) | Includes up to 937,500 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter (see Note 5). |
(2) | In November 2021, the Company surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, resulting in an aggregate of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. All share and per-share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share surrender (see Note 7). |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-3
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the Period from February 4, 2021 (Inception) Through |
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September 30, 2021 |
February 10, 2021 |
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(Unaudited) | ||||||||
General and administrative expenses |
$ | 8,911 | $ | 5,500 | ||||
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Net loss |
$ | (8,911 | ) | $ | (5,500 | ) | ||
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Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1)(2) |
6,250,000 | 6,250,000 | ||||||
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Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share |
$ | (0.00 | ) | $ | (0.00 | ) | ||
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(1) | Excludes up to 937,500 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter (see Note 5). |
(2) | In November 2021, the Company surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, resulting in an aggregate of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. All share and per-share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share surrender (see Note 7). |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-4
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY
Ordinary Shares | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Additional Paid-in Capital |
Accumulated Deficit |
Total Shareholders Equity |
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Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at February 4, 2021 (inception) |
| $ | | | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | ||||||||||||||||
Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor(1)(2) |
| | 7,187,500 | 719 | 24,281 | | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| | | | | (5,500 | ) | (5,500 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Balance at February 10, 2021 |
| | 7,187,500 | 719 | 24,281 | (5,500 | ) | 19,500 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| | | | | (3,411 | ) | (3,411 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Balance at September 30, 2021 (Unaudited) |
| $ | | 7,187,500 | $ | 719 | $ | 24,281 | $ | (8,911 | ) | $ | 16,089 | |||||||||||||||
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(1) | Includes up to 937,500 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter (see Note 5). |
(2) | In November 2021, the Company surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, resulting in an aggregate of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. All share and per-share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share surrender (see Note 7). |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-5
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the Period from February 4, 2021 (Inception) Through |
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September 30, 2021 |
February 10, 2021 |
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(Unaudited) | ||||||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: |
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Net loss |
$ | (8,911 | ) | $ | (5,500 | ) | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: |
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General and administrative expenses paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B ordinary shares |
8,911 | | ||||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
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Accrued expenses |
| 5,500 | ||||||
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Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities |
| | ||||||
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Net change in cash |
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Cash - beginning of period |
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Cash - end of period |
$ | | $ | | ||||
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Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities: |
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Deferred offering costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B ordinary shares |
$ | 16,089 | $ | 25,000 | ||||
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Deferred offering costs included in accrued expenses |
$ | 286,693 | $ | 30,274 | ||||
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Deferred offering costs included in Promissory note - related party |
$ | 230,848 | $ | | ||||
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|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-6
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1 Description of Organization and Business Operations
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II (the Company) was incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on February 4, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (the Business Combination).
As of September 30, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from February 4, 2021 (inception) through September 30, 2021 relates to the Companys formation and the proposed initial public offering described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering (as defined below). The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Companys sponsor is Cerberus Telecom Acquisition II Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the Sponsor). The Companys ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a proposed public offering (the Proposed Public Offering) of 25,000,000 units (each, a Unit and collectively, the Units) at $10.00 per Unit (or 28,750,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 950,000 units (or 1,025,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) (each, a Private Placement Unit and collectively, the Private Placement Units), at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit in a private placement to the Sponsor that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering.
The Companys management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Units, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the signing of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, the Company will only complete a 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. Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management has agreed that an amount equal to at least $10.20 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering, including the proceeds of the Private Placement Units, will be held in a trust account (Trust Account), located in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. government securities within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having maturities of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
The Company will provide the holders of its Class A ordinary shares (the Public Shareholders), par value $0.0001, sold in the Proposed Public Offering (the Public Shares), 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 shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their
F-7
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.20 per Public Share). The per-share amount to be distributed to Public Shareholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Notes 5 and 7). These Public Shares will be classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Boards (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity. In such case, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation of a Business Combination and a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a shareholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which the Company will be adopted upon the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering (the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association), 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, shareholder approval of the transactions is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain shareholder approval for business or legal 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. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor and each member of its management team have agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined below in Note 5), their Private Placement Shares (as defined below in Note 4) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Proposed Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder 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 15% or more of the Class A ordinary shares sold in the Proposed Public Offering, without the prior consent of the Company.
The Sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed not to propose an amendment to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (a) that would modify the substance or timing of the Companys obligation provide holders of the Companys Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with the initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Companys public shares if the Company does not complete its initial Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (the Combination Period) or (b) with respect to any other provision relating rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares, unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
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, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to the Companys obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating
F-8
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
distributions with respect to the Companys warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to consummate an initial Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. The Companys amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if the Company winds up for any other reason prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, the Company will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
The Sponsor and each member of its management team have agreed to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor or members of the Companys management team acquire Public Shares in or after the Proposed Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within in the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only $10.20 per share initially held in the Trust Account. 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. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account or to any claims under the Companys indemnity of the underwriters of the Proposed Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except for Independent Registered Accounting Firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Note 2 Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
The accompanying unaudited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) for interim financial information and in accordance with Article 8 of Regulation S-X of the SEC. Certain information or footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC for interim financial reporting. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes necessary for a complete presentation of financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited financial statements include all adjustments, consisting of a normal recurring nature, which are necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, operating results and cash flows for the period presented. Operating results for the period from February 4, 2021 (Inception) through September 30, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected through December 31, 2021, or any future periods.
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CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
In connection with the Companys assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with ASU 2014-15, Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entitys Ability to Continue as a Going Concern, as of September 30, 2021 and February 10, 2021, the Company does not have sufficient liquidity to meet its current obligations. However, management has determined that the Company has access to funds from the Sponsor, and the Sponsor has the financial wherewithal to fund the Company, that are sufficient to fund the working capital needs of the Company until the earlier of the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering or a minimum one year from the date of issuance of these financial statements.
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 auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 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 shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard.
This may make comparison of the Companys financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Net Loss Per Ordinary Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, Earnings Per Share. Net loss per ordinary share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. At September 30, 2021 and February 10, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities or other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per ordinary share is the same as basic loss per ordinary share for the periods presented.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Companys assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement (ASC 820), approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.
The Company applies ASC 820, which establishes a framework for measuring fair value and clarifies the definition of fair value within that framework. ASC 820 defines fair value as an exit price, which is the price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability in the Companys principal or most advantageous
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CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
market in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The fair value hierarchy established in ASC 820 generally requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability and are developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity. Unobservable inputs reflect the entitys own assumptions based on market data and the entitys judgments about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability and are to be developed based on the best information available in the circumstances.
Level 1 Assets and liabilities with unadjusted, quoted prices listed on active market exchanges. Inputs to the fair value measurement are observable inputs, such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2 Inputs to the fair value measurement are determined using prices for recently traded assets and liabilities with similar underlying terms, as well as direct or indirect observable inputs, such as interest rates and yield curves that are observable at commonly quoted intervals.
Level 3 Inputs to the fair value measurement are unobservable inputs, such as estimates, assumptions, and valuation techniques when little or no market data exists for the assets or liabilities.
Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging. For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value on the grant date and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statements of operations. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is evaluated at the end of each reporting period. Derivative liabilities are classified in the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Companys management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Deferred Offering Costs Associated with the Proposed Public Offering
The Company complies with the requirements of Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) 340-10-S99-1. Deferred offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering. Offering costs are allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Initial Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs allocated to derivative warrant liabilities are expensed as incurred, and presented as general and administrative expenses in the statement of operations. Offering costs associated with the Class A ordinary shares are charged against the carrying value of the Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering.
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CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Income Taxes
FASB ASC 740, Income Taxes, prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of September 30, 2021 or February 10, 2021. The Companys management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Companys only major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of September 30, 2021 and February 10, 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.
There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with Cayman income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Companys unaudited condensed financial statements. The Companys management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2020-06, Debt Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging Contracts in Entitys Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (ASU 2020-06) to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entitys own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entitys own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-converted method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective for the Company on January 1, 2024, and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, that ASU 2020-06 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Companys financial statements.
Note 3 Proposed Public Offering
Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale 25,000,000 Units (or 28,750,000 Units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant (Public Warrant). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).
Note 4 Private Placement
The Sponsor has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 950,000 Private Placement Units (or 1,025,000 Private Placement Units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $9,500,000 (or $10,250,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Offering. Each Private Placement Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share (the Private Placement Shares) and one-third of one redeemable warrant (the Private Placement Warrants). The proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units will be added to the net proceeds from the Proposed Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the
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CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the warrants included in the Private Placement Units will expire worthless. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to the Private Placement Warrants.
Note 5 Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On February 10, 2021, the Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain expenses on behalf of the Company in exchange for issuance of 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 (the Founder Shares). In November 2021, the Company surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, resulting in an aggregate of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. If the Company increases or decreases the size of the Proposed Public Offering, the Company will effect a share capitalization or a share surrender or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to the Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as converted basis, at 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the Private Placement Shares underlying the Private Placement Units) upon the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering. Up to 937,500 Founder Shares are subject to forfeiture by the Companys Sponsor, depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised.
The Sponsor and management team have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell (i) any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination and (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Public Shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
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 Companys officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (Working Capital Loans). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the 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. If the Companys Sponsor, its affiliates or a member of the Companys management team makes any working capital loans, it may convert up to $2,000,000 of such loans into 200,000 Private Placement Units of the post-business combination entity, at a price of $10.00 per unit, with 66,000 Private Placement Warrants underlying the Private Placement Units. The warrants would be identical to those included in the Private Placement Units to be sold in the Proposed Public Offering. As of September 30, 2021, the Company had no borrowings outstanding under the Working Capital Loans.
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CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Promissory NoteRelated Party
On February 10, 2021, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Proposed Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the Note). This loan is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2021, or the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. As of September 30, 2021 and February 10, 2021, the Company had $230,848 and $0 outstanding under the Promissory Note, respectively.
Overfunding Loan
Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company will receive an non-interest bearing and unsecured loan from the Sponsor in the amount $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) (the Overfunding Loan). The loan will be convertible into 500,000 Class A ordinary shares, sold in a Private Placement, (or 575,000 Class A ordinary shares, sold in a Private Placement, if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), par value $0.0001 per share, of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per share or repaid upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering at the option of the Sponsor. The Overfunding Loan will be repaid solely to the extent that the Company has funds available to it outside of the Trust Account established in connection with the Initial Public Offering, and that all other amounts will be contributed to capital, forfeited, eliminated or otherwise forgiven or eliminated. The proceeds will be used to over-fund the Trust Account. As of September 30, 2021 and February 10, 2021, there were no amounts outstanding under the Overfunding Loan.
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on the date the Companys securities are first listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the Company has agreed to pay the Companys Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of the initial Business Combination or the Companys liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.
Note 6 Commitments and Contingencies
Registration and Shareholder Rights
The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Units (including securities contained therein) and units (including securities contained therein) that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, The any Class A ordinary shares that may be issued upon conversion of the Overfunding Loan (as defined below) and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares that may be issued upon conversion of the warrants underlying any units issued as part of the working capital loans and Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the founder shares will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the Proposed Public Offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company registers such securities. In addition, the holders have certain piggy-back registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the Companys initial Business Combination. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lockup period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, as described in the following paragraph, and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
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CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Underwriting Agreement
The Company will grant the underwriters a 45-day option from the final prospectus relating to the Proposed Public Offering to purchase up to 3,750,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Proposed Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions.
The underwriters will be entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, or $5,000,000 in the aggregate (or $5,750,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), payable upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or $8,750,000 in the aggregate (or approximately $10,062,500 in the aggregate if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Companys financial position, results of its operations, close of the Proposed Public Offering and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Note 7 Shareholders Equity
Class A Ordinary SharesThe Company is authorized to issue 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of September 30, 2021 and February 10, 2021, there were no ordinary shares issued or outstanding.
Class B Ordinary SharesThe Company is authorized to issue 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. On February 10, 2021, the Company issued 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares to the Sponsor. In November 2021, the Company surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, resulting in an aggregate of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. Of the 7,187,500 shares outstanding, up to 937,500 shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that the initial shareholders will collectively own approximately 20% of the Companys issued and outstanding ordinary shares. As of September 30, 2021 and February 10, 2021, there were 7,187,500 ordinary shares issued and outstanding.
Holders of the Class A ordinary shares and holders of the Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the Companys shareholders, except as required by law or stock exchange rule; provided that only holders of the Class B ordinary shares have the right to vote on the election of the Companys directors prior to the initial Business Combination.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the initial Business Combination at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of the Proposed Public Offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked
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CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination and any Private Placement Units issued to the Sponsor, its affiliates or any member of the Companys management team upon conversion of Working Capital Loans. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one.
Preference SharesThe Company is authorized to issue 5,000,000 preference shares with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Companys board of directors. As of September 30, 2021 and February 10, 2021, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
WarrantsThere are no warrants outstanding as of September 30, 2021 and February 10, 2021. 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 completion of the Companys initial Business Combination and will expire five years after the completion of the initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than twenty business days after the closing of the initial Business Combination, the Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and will use commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of the Companys initial Business Combination, and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement provided that if the Companys Class A ordinary shares 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, will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of the initial 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, but the Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the Private Placement 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, which the Company refers to as the 30-day redemption period; and |
| if, and only if, the last reported sale price (the closing price) of the Companys Class A ordinary shares 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 the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
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CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if the Company is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of an initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Companys board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares or Private Placement 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 an initial Business Combination on the date of the completion of the initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Companys Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates an 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, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described below under Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants except that (1) the Private Placement Warrants will not be redeemable by the Company, (2) the Private Placement Warrants (and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants) may be subject to certain transfer restrictions, (3) the Private Placement Warrants may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis, and (4) the holders of the Private Placement Warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such Private Placement Warrants) are entitled to registration rights.
The Company will account for the 8,649,999 warrants to be issued in connection with the Proposed Offering (including 8,333,333 Public Warrants and 316,666 warrants included in the Private Placement Units assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that the warrants described above are not precluded from equity classification. Equity-classified contracts are initially measured at fair value (or allocated value). Subsequent changes in fair value are not recognized as long as the contracts continue to be classified in equity.
Note 8 Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up the date that the financial statements were issued. Based on this review, other than described below, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
In November 2021, the Company surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, resulting in an aggregate of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. All share and per-share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share forfeiture.
F-17
25,000,000 Units
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
Deutsche Bank Securities
PJT Partners
, 2021
Until , 2022 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that buy, sell or trade our ordinary shares, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus.
This is in addition to the dealers obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to its unsold allotments or subscriptions.
PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
EXHIBIT INDEX
Item 16. | Exhibits and Financial Schedules. |
(a) Exhibits. The following exhibits are being filed herewith.
* | Previously filed. |
II-1
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of New York, State of New York, on the 23rd day of December, 2021
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II | ||
By: | /s/ Timothy M. Donahue | |
Name: | Timothy M. Donahue | |
Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
POWER OF ATTORNEY
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name |
Position |
Date | ||
/s/ Timothy M. Donahue Timothy M. Donahue |
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
December 23, 2021 | ||
/s/ Jeffrey L. Lomasky Jeffrey L. Lomasky |
Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
December 23, 2021 |
Exhibit 1.1
25,000,000 Units
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II
UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT
[], 2021
DEUTSCHE BANK SECURITIES INC.
1 Columbus Circle New York,
New York 10019
PJT PARTNERS LP
280 Park Avenue New York,
New York 10017
As Representatives of the several Underwriters
listed in Schedule I to the Agreement
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
1. Introductory. Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II, a Cayman Islands exempted company (the Company), agrees with the several underwriters named in Schedule I hereto (each, an Underwriter and collectively, the Underwriters), for whom you (the Representatives) are acting as representatives, to issue and sell to the several Underwriters 25,000,000 units (the Units) of the Company (said Units to be issued and sold by the Company being hereinafter called the Firm Securities) and also proposes to issue and sell to the Underwriters, at the option of the Underwriters, an aggregate of not more than 3,750,000 additional Units of the Company to cover over-allotments (the Optional Securities) as set forth below. The Firm Securities and the Optional Securities are herein collectively called the Offered Securities. Certain capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined are defined in Section 21 to this agreement (this Agreement).
Each Unit consists of one of the Companys Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the Ordinary Shares), and one-third of one redeemable warrant, where each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Ordinary Share (the Warrant(s)). The Ordinary Shares and Warrants included in the Units will not trade separately until the 52nd day following the date of the Prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) (unless the Representatives inform the Company of their decision to allow earlier separate trading), subject to (a) the Companys preparation of an audited balance sheet reflecting the receipt by the Company of the proceeds of the Offering (as defined below), (b) the filing of such audited balance sheet with the Commission on a Current Report on Form 8-K or similar form by the Company that includes such audited balance sheet, and (c) the Company having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. No fractional Warrants will be
issued upon separation of the Units, and only whole Warrants will trade. Each whole Warrant entitles its holder, upon exercise, to purchase one Ordinary Share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, during the period commencing on the later of thirty (30) days after the completion of the Companys initial Business Combination (as defined below) and twelve (12) months from the date of the consummation of the Offering and terminating on the five-year anniversary of the date of the completion of such initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or Liquidation; provided, however, that pursuant to the Warrant Agreement (as defined below), only a whole Warrant may be exercised. As used herein, the term Business Combination (as described more fully in the Registration Statement) shall mean a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses involving the Company.
The Company will enter into an Investment Management Trust Agreement, to be dated as of the Closing Date (as defined below) (the Trust Agreement), with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (CST), as trustee (the Trustee), in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Registration Statement, pursuant to which certain of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units (as defined below) and proceeds of the Offering and the Overfunding Loan (as defined below) will be deposited and held in a trust account (the Trust Account) for the benefit of the Company, the Underwriters and the holders of the Firm Securities and the Optional Securities, if and when issued.
The Company will enter into a Warrant Agreement, to be dated as of the Closing Date (the Warrant Agreement), with respect to the Warrants and the warrants included in the Private Placement Units with CST, as warrant agent, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 4.4 to the Registration Statement, pursuant to which CST will act as warrant agent in connection with the issuance, registration, transfer, exchange, redemption, and exercise of the Warrants and the warrants included in the Private Placement Units.
The Company entered into a Securities Subscription Agreement, dated February 10, 2021 (the Founders Purchase Agreement), with Cerberus Telecom Acquisition II Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the Sponsor), pursuant to which the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company, for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 (including the Ordinary Shares issuable upon conversion thereof, the Founder Shares), 1,875,000 of which were subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the Underwriters over-allotment option is exercised. In November 2021, the Sponsor surrendered 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, which decreased the number of outstanding Class B ordinary shares from 14,375,000 to 7,187,500. Up to 937,500 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor. The Founder Shares are substantially similar to the Ordinary Shares included in the Units except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.
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The Company has entered into a Private Placement Units Purchase Agreement, effective as of the date hereof (the Unit Subscription Agreement), with the Sponsor, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the Registration Statement, pursuant to which the Sponsor agreed to purchase an aggregate of 950,000 units (or up to 1,025,000 units depending on the extent to which the Underwriters over-allotment option is exercised) for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit (the Private Placement Units). The Private Placement Units are identical to the Units, except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.
The Company will enter into a Registration and Shareholder Rights Agreement, to be dated as of the Closing Date (the Registration Rights Agreement), with the Sponsor and the other parties thereto, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Registration Statement, pursuant to which the Company has granted certain registration rights in respect of the Private Placement Units (including any Ordinary Shares and the warrants included in such Private Placement Units and any Ordinary Shares issued or issuable upon the exercise of such warrants), the Founder Shares and the units that may be issued upon conversion of certain working capital loans, if any.
The Company will cause to be duly executed and delivered a letter agreement, to be dated as of the Closing Date (the Insider Letter), by and among the Sponsor and each of the Companys executive officers, directors and director nominees, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.8 to the Registration Statement.
The Company issued a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note for an aggregate amount of up to $300,000 to the Sponsor in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.6 to the Registration Statement (the Promissory Note) in exchange for the payment of up to the equivalent amount by the Sponsor to the Company from time to time. These monies have been used to cover expenses relating to the Offering. The Promissory Note will be payable on the earlier to occur of December 31, 2021 or the Closing Date.
The Company will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement, to be dated as of the Closing Date (the Administrative Services Agreement), with the Sponsor, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.5 to the Registration Statement, pursuant to which the Company will pay to the Sponsor, or an affiliate thereof, as determined by the Sponsor, a monthly fee of $10,000 for certain administrative and support services.
The Company will enter into a Master Consulting and Advisory Services Agreement, to be dated as of the Closing Date (the COAC Services Agreement), with Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company, LLC (COAC), in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.9 to the Registration Statement, pursuant to which the Company will be entitled to fees and/or will reimburse COAC for certain allocable compensation costs, and reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses, to the extent that members of COAC provide services to the Company before the initial Business Combination.
The Company will enter into a Master Consulting and Advisory Services Agreement, to be dated as of the Closing Date (the CTS Services Agreement), with Cerberus Technology Solutions, LLC (CTS), in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.10 to the Registration Statement, pursuant to which the Company will be entitled to fees and/or will reimburse CTS for certain allocable compensation costs, and reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses, to the extent that members of CTS provide services to the Company before the initial Business Combination.
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The Company will issue a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note for an aggregate amount of $5,000,000 to the Sponsor in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.11 to the Registration Statement (the Overfunding Loan) for the purpose of overfunding the Trust Account.
2. Representations and Warranties of the Company. The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, the several Underwriters that:
(a) Filing and Effectiveness of Registration Statement. The Company has prepared and filed with the Commission the Registration Statement (file number 333-254265) on Form S-1, including the related Preliminary Prospectus, for registration under the Act of the offering and sale of the Offered Securities. Such Registration Statement, including any amendments thereto filed prior to the Execution Time, has become effective under Section 8(a) of the Act. The Company has filed one or more amendments thereto, including the related Preliminary Prospectus, each of which has previously been furnished to the Representatives. The Company will file with the Commission the Prospectus in accordance with Rule 424(b). As filed, such Prospectus shall contain all information required by the Act and, except to the extent the Representatives shall agree in writing to a modification, shall be in all substantive respects in the form furnished to the Representatives prior to the Execution Time or, to the extent not completed at the Execution Time, shall contain only such specific additional information and other changes (beyond that contained in the latest Preliminary Prospectus) as the Company has advised the Representatives, prior to the Execution Time, will be included or made therein. The Company has complied to the Commissions satisfaction with all requests of the Commission for additional or supplemental information.
(b) Compliance with Securities Act Requirements. On the Effective Date, the Registration Statement did, and when the Prospectus is first filed in accordance with Rule 424(b) and on the Closing Date (as defined herein) and on any date on which Optional Securities are purchased, if such date is not the Closing Date (a settlement date), the Prospectus (and any supplement thereto) will comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Act; on the Effective Date and at the Execution Time, the Registration Statement did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading; as of the Applicable Time and on the Closing Date and any settlement date, any individual Written Testing-the-Waters Communication (as defined herein) did not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement or the Statutory Prospectus, and complied in all material respects with the Act; as of the Applicable Time and on the Closing Date and any settlement date, each road show as defined in Rule 433(h) of the
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Act and any individual Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, in each case, when considered together with the Statutory Prospectus, did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and on the date of any filing pursuant to Rule 424(b) and on the Closing Date and each settlement date, the Prospectus (together with any supplement thereto) will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that the Company makes no representations or warranties as to the information contained in or omitted from the Registration Statement or the Prospectus (or any supplement thereto) in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for inclusion in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus (or any supplement thereto), it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by or on behalf of any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 8 hereof.
(c) Statutory Prospectus. The Statutory Prospectus, as of the Applicable Time and on the Closing Date and any settlement date, did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that the Company makes no representations or warranties as to the information contained in or omitted from the Statutory Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by or on behalf of any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 8 hereof.
(d) Listing. The Company has filed with the Commission a registration statement on Form 8-A (file number 001-[]) providing for the registration under the Exchange Act of the Units and the Ordinary Shares and Warrants included as part of the Units, which registration is currently effective on the date hereof. The Offered Securities and the Ordinary Shares and Warrants included as part of the Offered Securities have been authorized for listing, subject to official notice of issuance and evidence of satisfactory distribution, on the New York Stock Exchange, and the Company knows of no reason or set of facts that is likely to adversely affect such authorization.
(e) No Stop Order. The Commission has not issued any order or, to the Companys knowledge, threatened to issue any order preventing or suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any part thereof, and has not instituted or, to the Companys knowledge, threatened to institute any proceedings with respect to such an order.
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(f) Ineligible Issuer Status. (i) At the time of filing the Registration Statement and (ii) as of the Execution Time (with such date being used as the determination date for purposes of this clause (ii)), the Company was and is an Ineligible Issuer (as defined in Rule 405).
(g) Free Writing Prospectuses. The Company has not prepared or used a Free Writing Prospectus.
(h) Good Standing of the Company. The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as an exempted company in good standing under the laws of the Cayman Islands with full corporate power and authority to own or lease, as the case may be, and to operate its properties and conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus and to enter into this Agreement, the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Founders Purchase Agreement, the Unit Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Insider Letter, the Administrative Services Agreement, the Overfunding Loan, the COAC Services Agreement and the CTS Services Agreement and to carry out the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, and, except where failure to be so qualified or be in good standing would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect (as defined below), is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation and is in good standing under the laws of each jurisdiction that requires such qualification.
(i) Disclosure. There is no franchise, contract or other document of a character required to be described in the Registration Statement or Prospectus, or to be filed as an exhibit thereto, which is not described or filed as required (and the Statutory Prospectus contains in all material respects the same description of the foregoing matters contained in the Prospectus); and the statements in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus under the headings Principal Shareholders, Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions, and Description of Securities insofar as such statements summarize legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings discussed therein, are accurate and fair summaries of such legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings. There are no business relationships or related party transactions involving the Company or any other person required by the Act to be described in the Registration Statement or Prospectus that have not been described as required.
(j) Capitalization. The Companys authorized equity capitalization is as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.
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(k) Outstanding Securities. All issued and outstanding securities of the Company have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid and nonassessable; and none of such securities were issued in violation of the preemptive rights of any holders of any security of the Company or similar contractual rights granted by the Company. The offers and sales of the issued and outstanding securities of the Company were at all relevant times either registered under the Act, the applicable state securities and blue sky laws or, based in part on the representations and warranties of the purchasers of such Ordinary Shares and Warrants, exempt from such registration requirements. The holders of issued and outstanding ordinary shares of the Company are not entitled to preemptive or other rights to subscribe for the Offered Securities; and, except as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, no options, warrants or other rights to purchase, agreements or other obligations to issue, or rights to convert any obligations into or exchange any securities for, ordinary shares or other ownership interests in the Company are outstanding.
(l) Offered Securities. The Offered Securities have been duly authorized and when issued and delivered against payment by the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement, will be validly issued.
(m) Ordinary Shares. The Ordinary Shares included in the Units have been duly authorized and, when issued and delivered against payment for the Offered Securities by the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement and registered in the Companys register of members, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. The holders of such Ordinary Shares are not and will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; such Ordinary Shares are not and will not be subject to any preemptive or other similar contractual rights granted by the Company.
(n) Warrants. The Warrants included in the Units, when issued and delivered in the manner set forth in the Warrant Agreement against payment for the Offered Securities by the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement, will be duly issued and delivered, and will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
(o) Ordinary Shares Issuable Upon Exercise of Warrants. The Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants included in the Units and the Private Placement Units have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance upon exercise thereof and, when issued and delivered against payment therefor pursuant to the Warrants and the warrants included in the Private Placement Units, as applicable, and the Warrant Agreement and registered in the Companys register of members, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. The holders of such Ordinary Shares are not and will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; such Ordinary Shares are not and will not be subject to any preemptive or other similar contractual rights granted by the Company; and all corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of such Ordinary Shares (other than such execution (if applicable), countersignature (if applicable) and delivery at the time of issuance) has been duly and validly taken.
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(p) Registration Rights. Except as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, no holders of any securities of the Company or any rights exercisable for or convertible or exchangeable into securities of the Company have the right to require the Company to register any such securities of the Company under the Act or to include any such securities in a registration statement to be filed by the Company.
(q) Sales to Affiliates. No securities of the Company have been sold by the Company or by or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, any person or persons controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Company from its inception through and including the date hereof, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.
(r) Integration. Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates has, prior to the date hereof, made any offer or sale of any securities that are required to be integrated pursuant to the Act with the offer and sale of the Offered Securities pursuant to the Registration Statement.
(s) Founder Shares. The issued and outstanding Founder Shares are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.
(t) Private Placement Units. The Private Placement Units, when delivered upon the consummation of the Offering, will be duly issued and delivered, and will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
(u) Authorization of this Agreement. This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
(v) Trust Agreement. The Trust Agreement has been duly authorized, and will be duly executed and delivered by the Company, and, upon execution and delivery and assuming due execution and delivery by CST, will be a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company, in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
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(w) Warrant Agreement. The Warrant Agreement has been duly authorized, and will be duly executed and delivered by the Company and, upon execution and delivery and assuming due execution and delivery by CST, will be a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
(x) Founders Purchase Agreement. The Founders Purchase Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and the Sponsor, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company and the Sponsor, enforceable against the Company and the Sponsor in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
(y) Unit Subscription Agreement. The Unit Subscription Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and the Sponsor, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company and the Sponsor, enforceable against the Company and the Sponsor in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
(z) Registration Rights Agreement. The Registration Rights Agreement has been duly authorized, and will be duly executed and delivered by the Company and, upon execution and delivery, will be a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
(aa) Insider Letter. The Insider Letter to be executed by the Company, the Sponsor and each executive officer, director and director nominee of the Company, has been duly authorized, and will be duly executed and delivered by the Company, the Sponsor and, to the Companys knowledge, each such executive officer, director and director nominee, respectively, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, the Sponsor and, to the Companys knowledge, each such executive officer, director and director nominee, respectively, enforceable against the Company, the Sponsor and, to the Companys knowledge, each such executive officer, director and director nominee, respectively, in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
(bb) Administrative Services Agreement. The Administrative Services Agreement has been duly authorized, and will be duly executed and delivered by the Company and, upon the execution and delivery, will be a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
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(cc) COAC Services Agreement. The COAC Services Agreement has been duly authorized, and will be duly executed and delivered by the Company and, upon execution and delivery and assuming due execution and delivery by COAC, will be a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
(dd) CTS Services Agreement. The CTS Services Agreement has been duly authorized, and will be duly executed and delivered by the Company and, upon execution and delivery and assuming due execution and delivery by CTS, will be a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.
(ee) Investment Company Act. The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Offered Securities and the Private Placement Units and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, will not be an investment company as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the Investment Company Act).
(ff) Absence of Further Requirements. No consent, approval, authorization, filing with or order of any court or governmental agency or body is required in connection with the transactions contemplated herein or in the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Founders Purchase Agreement, the Unit Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Insider Letter, the Administrative Services Agreement, the COAC Services Agreement or the CTS Services Agreement, except for the registration under the Act and the Exchange Act of the Offered Securities and the Ordinary Shares and Warrants included as part of the Offered Securities and such as may be required under state securities or blue sky laws of any jurisdiction, in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Offered Securities by the Underwriters in the manner contemplated herein and in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.
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(gg) Absence of Existing Defaults. The Company is not in violation or default of (i) any provision of its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, (ii) the terms of any indenture, contract, lease, mortgage, deed of trust, note agreement, loan agreement or other agreement, obligation, condition, covenant or instrument to which it is a party or bound or to which its property is subject, or (iii) any (x) statute, law, rule, regulation, or (y) judgment, order or decree of any court, regulatory body, administrative agency, governmental body, arbitrator or other authority having jurisdiction over the Company; except in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) (y) above for any such conflict, breach or violation that would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to have a material adverse effect on the condition (financial or otherwise), prospects, earnings, business or properties of the Company, taken as a whole, whether or not arising from transactions in the ordinary course of business (a Material Adverse Effect).
(hh) Absence of Defaults and Conflicts Resulting From Transaction. Neither the issue and sale of the Offered Securities nor the consummation of any other of the transactions herein contemplated nor the fulfillment of the terms hereof or of the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Founders Purchase Agreement, the Unit Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Insider Letter, the Administrative Services Agreement, the COAC Services Agreement or the CTS Services Agreement will conflict with, result in a breach or violation of, or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Company pursuant to, (i) the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company, (ii) the terms of any indenture, contract, lease, mortgage, deed of trust, note agreement, loan agreement or other agreement, obligation, condition, covenant or instrument to which the Company is a party or bound or to which the Companys property is subject, or (iii) any statute, law, rule, or regulation, judgment, order or decree applicable to the Company of any court, regulatory body, administrative agency, governmental body, arbitrator or other authority having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its respective properties; except in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above for any such conflict, breach or violation that would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(ii) Financial Statements. The historical financial statements, including the notes thereto and the supporting schedules, if any, of the Company included in the Statutory Prospectus, the Prospectus and the Registration Statement present fairly the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of the dates and for the periods indicated, comply as to form with the applicable accounting requirements of the Act and have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved (except as otherwise noted therein). The Company is not party to any off-balance sheet transactions, arrangements, obligations (including contingent obligations), or other relationships with unconsolidated entities or other persons that may have a material current or future effect on the Companys financial condition, changes in financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures, capital resources, or significant components of revenues or expenses. The statistical, industry-related and market-related data included in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company reasonably and in good faith believes are reliable and accurate, and such data agree with the sources from which they are derived.
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(jj) Litigation. No action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company, the Sponsor, or, to the Companys knowledge, any officer, director or director nominee of the Company, or the property of any of them is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened that (i) would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the performance of this Agreement or the consummation of any of the transactions contemplated hereby by the Company or (ii) would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto).
(kk) Properties. The Company owns or leases all such properties, or will have access thereto pursuant to the Administrative Services Agreement, as are necessary to the conduct of its operations as presently conducted.
(ll) Independent Auditors. WithumSmith+Brown, PC (Withum), who has certified certain financial statements of the Company and delivered its report with respect to the audited financial statements and schedules included in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, is a registered public accounting firm that is independent with respect to the Company within the meaning of the Act and the Exchange Act and the applicable published rules and regulations thereunder.
(mm) Disclosure Controls and Procedures. The Company maintains effective disclosure controls and procedures (as defined under Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act to the extent required by such rule).
(nn) [Reserved].
(oo) Compliance with Exchange Rules. There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or, to the knowledge of the Company, any of the Companys officers or directors, in their capacities as such, to comply with (as and when applicable), and immediately following the Effective Date the Company will be in compliance with, the New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual. Further, there is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or, to the knowledge of the Company, any of the Companys officers or directors, in their capacities as such, to comply with (as and when applicable), and immediately following the Effective Date the Company will be in compliance with, the phase-in requirements and all other applicable provisions of the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance requirements set forth in the New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual.
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(pp) Taxes. There are no transfer, stamp, issue, registration, documentary or other similar taxes, duties, fees or charges under U.S. federal law or the laws of any state, or any political subdivision thereof, or under the laws of the Cayman Islands, required to be paid in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the issuance or sale by the Company of the Offered Securities.
(qq) Filing of Tax Returns. The Company has filed all necessary federal, state, local and foreign tax returns, and has paid all taxes shown as due thereon (other than those being contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings and with respect to which adequate reserves are being maintained in accordance with GAAP), except where failure to so file or pay would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect and except as otherwise set forth in or contemplated in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto).
(rr) Possession of Licenses and Permits. The Company possesses all licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations issued by the appropriate federal, state or foreign regulatory authorities necessary to conduct its business, and the Company has not received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such license, certificate, authorization or permit that, singly or in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto).
(ss) Anti-Corruption Laws. (i) None of the Company, the Sponsor, or, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, director nominee, officer, agent, employee, controlled affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company has taken or will take any action in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization or approval of the payment, giving or receipt of money, property, gifts or anything else of value, directly or indirectly, to any government official (including any officer or employee of a government or government-owned or controlled entity or of a public international organization, or any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of any of the foregoing, or any political party or party official or candidate for political office) (Government Official) in order to influence official action, or to any person in violation of any applicable anti-corruption laws; (ii) the Company and the Sponsor have conducted their businesses in compliance with applicable anti-corruption laws and have instituted and maintained and will continue to maintain policies and procedures designed to promote and achieve compliance with such laws and with the representations and warranties contained herein; and (iii) the Company will not use, directly or indirectly, the proceeds of the Offering in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment or giving of money, or anything else of value, to any person in violation of any applicable anti-corruption laws.
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(tt) Anti-Money Laundering Laws. The operations of the Company are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with all applicable financial record-keeping and reporting requirements, including those of the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by Title III of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, and the applicable anti-money laundering statutes of jurisdictions where the Company conducts business, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the Anti-Money Laundering Laws), and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the best knowledge of the Company, threatened.
(uu) Economic Sanctions. (i) None of the Company, the Sponsor, or, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, director nominee, officer, employee, agent or controlled affiliate of the Company is an individual or entity (Person) that is, or is owned or controlled by one or more Persons that are (A) the subject of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, Her Majestys Treasury, or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, Sanctions), or (B) located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject of Sanctions (including, without limitation, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria). (ii) The Company will not, directly or indirectly, use the proceeds of the Offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other Person: (A) to fund or facilitate any activities or business of or with any Person or in any country or territory that, at the time of such funding or facilitation, is the subject of Sanctions; or (B) in any other manner that will result in a violation of Sanctions by any Person (including any Person participating in the Offering, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise). (iii) The Company has not knowingly engaged in, is not now knowingly engaged in, and will not engage in, any dealings or transactions with any Person, or in any country or territory, that at the time of the dealing or transaction is or was the subject of Sanctions.
(vv) Lending Relationships; Use of Proceeds. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Company (i) does not have any material lending or other relationship with any bank or lending affiliate of any of the Underwriters and (ii) does not intend to use any of the proceeds from the sale of the Offered Securities hereunder to repay any outstanding debt owed to any affiliate of any of the Underwriters.
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(ww) Questionnaires. All information contained in the questionnaires (the Questionnaires) completed by the Company and the Sponsor and, to the knowledge of the Company, the Companys officers, directors and director nominees and provided to the Underwriters is true and correct in all material respects and the Company has not become aware of any information that would cause the information disclosed in the Questionnaires completed by the Sponsor or the Companys officers, directors and director nominees to become inaccurate or incorrect in any material respect.
(xx) Acquisition Target Not Selected. Prior to the date hereof, the Company has not selected any business combination target and has not, nor has anyone on its behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.
(yy) No Finders or Similar Fees. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, there are no claims, payments, arrangements, contracts, agreements or understandings relating to the payment of a brokerage commission or finders, consulting, origination or similar fee by the Company, the Sponsor or any officer, director or director nominee of the Company with respect to the sale of the Offered Securities hereunder or any other arrangements, agreements or understandings of the Company, the Sponsor or, to the knowledge of the Company, any such officer, director or director nominee of the Company, or their respective affiliates, that may affect the Underwriters compensation, as determined by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA).
(zz) Absence of Certain Fees. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Company has not made any direct or indirect payments (in cash, securities or any other type of underwriting compensation as defined in Rule 5110(j)(22) of FINRAs Conduct Rules): (i) to any person, as a finders fee, consulting fee or otherwise, in consideration of such person raising capital for the Company or introducing to the Company persons who raised or provided capital to the Company; (ii) to any person that, to the Companys knowledge, has been accepted by FINRA as a member of FINRA (a Member); or (iii) to any person or entity that, to the Companys knowledge, has any direct or indirect affiliation or association with any Member, within the FINRA Review Period, as defined in Rule 5110(j)(20) of the FINRA Manual, other than payments to the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement.
(aaa) Investment Banking Services. No Member and/or any person associated or affiliated with a Member has received any underwriting compensation in connection with a public offering that has not been completed according to the terms of an agreement entered into by the Company and a participating member.
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(bbb) FINRA Membership of Affiliates. Other than as disclosed to the Underwriters, no officer, director, director nominee or beneficial owner of any class of the Companys securities (whether debt or equity, registered or unregistered, regardless of the time acquired or the source from which derived) (any such individual or entity, a Company Affiliate) is a Member or a person associated or affiliated with a Member.
(ccc) Ownership of FINRA Member Securities. Other than as disclosed to the Underwriters, no Company Affiliate is an owner of stock or other securities of any Member (other than securities purchased on the open market).
(ddd) [Reserved]
(eee) Proceeds; Payment to FINRA Members. No proceeds from the sale of the Offered Securities (excluding underwriting compensation as disclosed in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus) will be paid by the Company to any Member, or any persons associated or affiliated with a Member.
(fff) Issuance of Securities to Underwriters. The Company has not issued any warrants or other securities, or granted any options, directly or indirectly to anyone who is a Participating Member or an affiliated or associated person (as defined in Rule 5110(j)(15) of the FINRA Manual) within the 180-day period prior to the initial confidential submission date of the Registration Statement.
(ggg) FINRA Association of Company Affiliates. Except for the issuance of securities to the Sponsor, no person to whom securities of the Company have been privately issued within the 180-day period prior to the initial confidential submission date of the Registration Statement has any relationship or affiliation or association with any Member.
(hhh) Conflicts of Interest. No Member intending to participate in the Offering has a conflict of interest with the Company. For this purpose, a conflict of interest means, if at the time of the Members participation in the Offering, any of the following applies: (A) the securities are to be issued by the Member; (B) the Company controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the Member or the Members associated persons; (C) at least 5% of the net offering proceeds, not including underwriting compensation, are intended to be: (i) used to reduce or retire the balance of a loan or credit facility extended by the Member, its affiliates and its associated persons, in the aggregate; or (ii) otherwise directed to the Member, its affiliates and associated persons, in the aggregate; or (D) as a result of the Offering and any transactions contemplated at the time of the Offering: (i) the Member will be an affiliate of the Company; (ii) the Member will become publicly owned; or (iii) the Company will become a Member or form a broker-dealer subsidiary. As used herein, the term Member intending to participate in the Offering includes any associated person of a Member that is participating in the Offering, any members of such associated persons immediate family, and any affiliate of a Member that is participating in the Offering.
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(iii) Non-Compete/Non-Solicitation. Except as described in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, to the Companys knowledge, none of the Sponsor, directors or officers of the Company is subject to a noncompetition agreement or non-solicitation agreement with any employer or prior employer that could materially affect its, his or her ability to be and act in the capacity of shareholder, officer or director of the Company, as applicable.
(jjj) Absence of Manipulation. The Company has not taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Offered Securities.
(kkk) Company Ownership of Other Entities. The Company does not own an interest in any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust or other entity.
(lll) Related Party Transactions. No relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among any of the Company or any affiliate of the Company, on the one hand, and any director, director nominee, officer, shareholder, special advisor, customer or supplier of the Company or any affiliate of the Company, on the other hand, which is required by the Act or the Exchange Act to be described in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus that is not described as required. There are no outstanding loans, advances (except normal advances for business expenses in the ordinary course of business) or guarantees of indebtedness by the Company to or for the benefit of any of the officers, directors or director nominees of the Company or any of their respective family members, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus. The Company has not extended or maintained credit, arranged for the extension of credit, or renewed an extension of credit, in the form of a personal loan to or for any officer, director or director nominee of the Company.
(mmm) Absence of Unlawful Influence. The Company has not offered, or caused the Underwriters to offer, the Offered Securities to any person or entity with the intention of unlawfully influencing: (a) a customer or supplier of the Company or any affiliate of the Company to alter the customers or suppliers level or type of business with the Company or such affiliate or (b) a journalist or publication to write or publish favorable information about the Company or any such affiliate.
(nnn) Applicability of Rule 419. Upon delivery and payment for the Units on the Closing Date, the Company will not be subject to Rule 419 under the Act and none of the Companys outstanding securities will be deemed to be a penny stock as defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act.
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(ooo) Emerging Growth Company and Smaller Reporting Company Status. From the time of the initial confidential submission of the Registration Statement to the Commission (or, if earlier, the first date on which the Company engaged, directly or through any person authorized to act on its behalf, in any Testing-the-Waters Communication) through the Execution Time, the Company has been and is an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Act (an Emerging Growth Company). Testing-the-Waters Communication means any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) or Rule 163B of the Act. As of the time of filing of the Registration Statement, the Company was a smaller reporting company, as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act.
(ppp) Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company (i) has not alone engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communication other than Testing-the-Waters Communications with the consent of the Representatives with entities that are qualified institutional buyers within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Act or institutions that are accredited investors within the meaning of Rule 501 under the Act and (ii) has not authorized anyone other than the Representatives to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company reconfirms that the Representatives have been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company has not distributed any Written Testing-the-Waters Communications other than those listed on Schedule III hereto. Written Testing-the-Waters Communication means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Act.
(qqq) Payments in Foreign Currency. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, no governmental approvals are currently required in order for the Company to pay dividends, interest attributable to shareholders equity or other distributions declared by the Company to the holders of Offered Securities, and, under current laws and regulations, any amounts payable with respect to the Offered Securities (i) upon liquidation of the Company or upon redemption thereof and (ii) in the form of dividends or interest attributable to shareholders equity declared and payable on the Offered Securities shall be paid by the Company in U.S. dollars and may be freely transferred out of the Cayman Islands; no such payments made to holders thereof or therein who are non-residents of the Cayman Islands are subject to income, withholding or other taxes under laws and regulations of the Cayman Islands or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein, and such payments will otherwise be free and clear of any other tax, duty, withholding or deduction in the Cayman Islands or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein and without the necessity of obtaining any governmental authorization in the Cayman Islands or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein.
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(rrr) Immunity. Neither the Company nor any of its properties or assets has any immunity from the jurisdiction of any court or from any legal process (whether through service or notice, attachment prior to judgment, attachment in aid of execution or otherwise) under the laws of the Cayman Islands.
(sss) Enforcement of Rights. It is not necessary under the laws of the Cayman Islands (i) to enable the Underwriters to enforce their rights under this Agreement provided that they are not otherwise engaged in business in the Cayman Islands, or (ii) solely by reason of the execution, delivery or consummation of this Agreement, for any of the Underwriters to be qualified or entitled to carry out business in the Cayman Islands.
(ttt) Enforcement of Judgements. Although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the courts of the State of New York, such judgments will be recognized and enforced in the courts of the Cayman Islands at common law, without any re-examination of the merits of the underlying dispute, by an action commenced on the foreign judgment debt in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, provided such judgment is given by a foreign court of competent jurisdiction, imposes on the judgment debtor a liability to pay a liquidated sum for which the judgment has been given, is final, is not in respect of taxes, a fine or a penalty, and was not obtained in a manner and is not of a kind the enforcement of which is contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands.
(uuu) Any certificate signed by any officer or director of the Company and delivered to the Representatives or counsel for the Underwriters in connection with the Offering shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company, as to matters covered thereby, to each Underwriter.
3. Purchase and Sale. (a) Subject to the terms and conditions and in reliance upon the representations and warranties herein set forth, the Company agrees to sell to each Underwriter, and each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price of $9.80 per Unit, the amount of the Firm Securities set forth opposite such Underwriters name in Schedule I hereto.
(b) Subject to the terms and conditions and in reliance upon the representations and warranties herein set forth, the Company hereby grants an option to the several Underwriters to purchase, severally and not jointly, up to 3,750,000 Optional Securities at $9.80 per Unit. Said option may be exercised only to cover over-allotments in the sale of the Firm Securities by the Underwriters. Said option may be exercised in whole or in part at any time on or before the 45th day after the date of the Prospectus upon written notice by the Representatives to the Company setting forth the number of Optional Securities as to which the several Underwriters are exercising the option and the settlement date. The number of Optional Securities to be purchased by each Underwriter shall be based upon the same percentage of the total number of the Optional Securities to be purchased by the several Underwriters as such Underwriter is purchasing of the Firm Securities, subject to such adjustments as the Representatives in their absolute discretion shall make to eliminate any fractional shares.
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(c) In addition to the discount from the public offering price represented by the purchase price set forth in the first sentence of Section 3(a) of this Agreement, the Company hereby agrees to pay to the Underwriters a deferred discount of $0.35 per Unit (including both Firm Securities and Optional Securities) purchased hereunder (the Deferred Discount). The Deferred Discount will be paid to the Underwriters by the Trustee from amounts on deposit in the Trust Account by wire transfer payable in same-day funds if and when the Company consummates its initial Business Combination. The Underwriters hereby agree that if no Business Combination is consummated within the time period provided in the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, as amended, and the funds held under the Trust Agreement are distributed to the holders of the Ordinary Shares included in the Offered Securities sold pursuant to this Agreement (the Public Shareholders), (i) the Underwriters will forfeit any rights or claims to the Deferred Discount and (ii) the Trustee under the Trust Agreement is authorized to distribute the Deferred Discount to the Public Shareholders on a pro rata basis.
4. Delivery and Payment. Delivery of and payment for the Firm Securities and the Optional Securities (if the option provided for in Section 3(b) hereof shall have been exercised on or before the second (2nd) Business Day prior to the Closing Date) shall be made at 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on [], 2021, or at such time on such later date not more than three (3) Business Days after the foregoing date as the Representatives shall designate, which date and time may be postponed by agreement between the Representatives and the Company or as provided in Section 9 hereof (such date and time of delivery and payment for the Offered Securities being herein called the Closing Date). Delivery of the Offered Securities shall be made to the Representatives for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters against payment by the several Underwriters through the Representatives of the purchase price thereof by wire transfer payable in same-day funds to an account specified by the Company and to the Trust Account as described below in this Section 4. Delivery of the Firm Securities and the Optional Securities shall be made through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company (DTC) unless the Representatives shall otherwise instruct.
(a) Payment for the Firm Securities shall be made as follows: $245,000,000 of the net proceeds for the Firm Securities (including $8,750,000 of Deferred Discount) shall be deposited in the Trust Account pursuant to the terms of the Trust Agreement along with such portion of the gross proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units and the Overfunding Loan in order for the Trust Account to equal the product of the number of Units sold and the public offering price per Unit as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus upon delivery to the Representatives of the Firm Securities through the facilities of DTC or, if the Representatives have otherwise instructed, upon delivery to the Representatives of certificates (in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives) representing the Firm Securities, in each case for the account of the Underwriters.
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The Firm Securities shall be registered in such name or names and in such authorized denominations as the Representatives may request in writing at least two (2) Business Days prior to the Closing Date. If delivery is not made through the facilities of DTC, the Company will permit the Representatives to examine and package the Firm Securities for delivery, at least one (1) Business Day prior to the Closing Date. The Company shall not be obligated to sell or deliver the Firm Securities except upon tender of payment by the Representatives for all the Firm Securities.
(b) Payment for the Optional Securities shall be made as follows: $9.80 per Optional Security (including $0.35 per Optional Security of Deferred Discount) shall be deposited in the Trust Account pursuant to the terms of the Trust Agreement upon delivery to the Representatives of the Optional Securities through the facilities of DTC or, if the Representatives have otherwise instructed, upon delivery to the Representatives of certificates (in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives) representing the Optional Securities (or through the facilities of DTC) for the account of the Underwriters. The Optional Securities shall be registered in such name or names and in such authorized denominations as the Representatives may request in writing at least two (2) Business Days prior to the settlement date of such Optional Securities. If delivery is not made through the facilities of DTC, the Company will permit the Representatives to examine and package the Optional Securities for delivery, at least one (1) Business Day prior to the settlement date of such Optional Securities. The Company shall not be obligated to sell or deliver the Optional Securities except upon tender of payment by the Representatives for all the Optional Securities.
If the option provided for in Section 3(b) hereof is not exercised prior to the Closing Date, the Company will deliver the Optional Securities (at the expense of the Company) to the Representatives, at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., 1 Columbus Circle, New York, New York 10019, Attention: Equity Capital Markets Syndicate Desk and PJT Partners LP, 280 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10017, Attention: Office of the General Counsel, on the date specified by the Representatives (which shall be at least two (2) Business Days after exercise of said option) for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters, against payment by the several Underwriters through the Representatives of the purchase price thereof to the Trust Account as described above in Section 4(b). If settlement for the Optional Securities occurs after the Closing Date, the Company will deliver to the Representatives on the settlement date for such Optional Securities, and the obligation of the Underwriters to purchase such Optional Securities shall be conditioned upon receipt of, supplemental opinions, certificates and letters confirming as of such date the opinions, certificates and letters delivered on the Closing Date pursuant to Section 7 hereof.
5. Offering by Underwriters. It is understood that the several Underwriters propose to offer the Offered Securities for sale to the public as set forth in the Prospectus (the Offering).
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6. Certain Agreements of the Company. The Company agrees with the several Underwriters that:
(a) Prior to the termination of the Offering, the Company will not file any amendment of the Registration Statement or supplement to the Prospectus or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement unless the Company has furnished the Representatives with a copy for their review prior to filing and will not file any such proposed amendment, supplement or Rule 462(b) Registration Statement to which the Representatives reasonably object. The Company will cause the Prospectus, properly completed, and any supplement thereto to be filed in a form approved by the Representatives with the Commission pursuant to the applicable paragraph of Rule 424(b) within the time period prescribed and will provide evidence satisfactory to the Representatives of such timely filing. The Company will promptly advise the Representatives (i) when the Prospectus, and any supplement thereto, shall have been filed (if required) with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) or when any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication shall have been filed with the Commission, (ii) when, prior to termination of the Offering, any amendment to the Registration Statement shall have been filed or become effective, (iii) of any request by the Commission or its staff for any amendment of the Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or for any supplement to the Prospectus or for any additional information, (iv) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any order preventing or suspending the use of the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, or of the institution of any proceedings for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act and (v) of the receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification of the Offered Securities for sale in any jurisdiction or the institution or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose. The Company will use its best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such stop order or the occurrence of any such suspension or objection to the use of the Registration Statement and, upon such issuance, occurrence or notice of objection, to obtain as soon as possible the withdrawal of such stop order or relief from such occurrence or objection, including, if necessary, by filing an amendment to the Registration Statement or a new registration statement and using its best efforts to have such amendment or new registration statement declared or become effective as soon as practicable.
(b) If, at any time prior to the filing of the Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b), any event or development occurs as a result of which the Statutory Prospectus would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein in light of the circumstances under which they were made at such time not misleading, the Company will (i) notify promptly the Representatives so that any use of the Statutory Prospectus may cease until it is amended or supplemented; (ii) amend or supplement the Statutory Prospectus to correct such statement or omission; and (iii) supply any amendment or supplement to the Representatives in such quantities as the Representatives may reasonably request.
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(c) If, at any time when a prospectus relating to the Offered Securities is required to be delivered under the Act (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172), any event or development occurs as a result of which the Prospectus as then supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein in light of the circumstances under which they were made or the circumstances then prevailing not misleading, or if it shall be necessary to amend the Registration Statement or supplement the Prospectus to comply with the Act or the rules thereunder, the Company promptly will (i) notify the Representatives of any such event; (ii) prepare and file with the Commission, subject to the second sentence of paragraph (a) of this Section 6, an amendment or supplement that will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; and (iii) supply any supplemented Prospectus to the Representatives in such quantities as the Representatives may reasonably request.
(d) As soon as practicable, the Company will make generally available to its security holders and to the Representatives an earnings statement or statements of the Company and its subsidiaries that will satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Act and Rule 158.
(e) The Company will not make any offer relating to the Units or the securities contained therein that constitutes or would constitute a Free Writing Prospectus or a portion thereof required to be filed by the Company with the Commission or retained by the Company under Rule 433 of the Act.
(f) The Company will furnish to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters, without charge, signed copies of the Registration Statement (including exhibits thereto) and to each other Underwriter a copy of the Registration Statement (without exhibits thereto) and, so long as delivery of a prospectus by an Underwriter or dealer may be required by the Act (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172), as many copies of each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and any supplement thereto as the Representatives may reasonably request. The Company will pay the expenses of printing or other production of all documents relating to the Offering.
(g) The Company will not, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, (x) offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction that is designed to, or might reasonably be expected to, result in the disposition (whether by actual disposition or effective economic disposition due to cash settlement or otherwise) by the Company or any affiliate of the Company or any person in privity with the Company or any affiliate of the Company), directly or indirectly, including the filing (or participation in the filing) of a registration statement with the Commission in respect of, or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent
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position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Exchange Act with respect to, any other Units, Ordinary Shares, Warrants or any securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, Ordinary Shares or publicly announce an intention to effect any such transaction during the period commencing on the date hereof and ending 180 days after the date of this Agreement; provided, however, that the foregoing shall not apply to the forfeiture of a portion of the Founder Shares pursuant to their terms or any transfer of Founder Shares to any current or future independent director of the Company (provided that such current or future independent director transferee is subject to the Insider Letter or executes an agreement substantially identical to the Insider Letter, as applicable to directors and officers, at the time of such transfer, and provided further that to the extent any Section 16 reporting obligation is triggered as a result of such transfer, any related Section 16 filing includes a practical explanation as to the nature of the transfer) and the Company may (1) issue and sell the Private Placement Units, (2) issue and sell the Optional Securities on exercise of the option provided for in Section 3 hereof, (3) register with the Commission pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, in accordance with the terms of the Registration Rights Agreement, the resale of the securities covered thereby, and (4) issue securities in connection with an initial Business Combination, or (y) release the Sponsor or any officer or director from the 180-day lock-up contained in the Insider Letter.
(h) The Company will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Offered Securities.
(i) The Company agrees to pay the costs and expenses relating to the following matters: (i) the preparation, printing or reproduction and filing with the Commission of the Registration Statement (including financial statements and exhibits thereto), each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and each amendment or supplement to any of them; (ii) the printing (or reproduction) and delivery (including postage, air freight charges and charges for counting and packaging) of such copies of the Registration Statement, each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and all amendments or supplements to any of them, as may, in each case, be reasonably requested for use in connection with the offering and sale of the Offered Securities; (iii) the preparation, printing, authentication, issuance and delivery of certificates for the Offered Securities, including any stamp or transfer taxes in connection with the original issuance and sale of the Offered Securities; (iv) the printing (or reproduction) and delivery of this Agreement and all other agreements or documents printed (or reproduced) and delivered in connection with the Offering; (v) the registration of the Offered Securities under the Exchange Act and the listing of the Offered Securities and the Ordinary Shares and Warrants included in the Offered Securities on the New York Stock Exchange; (vi) the printing and delivery of a preliminary blue sky memorandum, any registration or qualification of the Offered Securities for offer and sale under the securities or blue sky laws of the several states and any filings
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required to be made with FINRA (including filing fees and the reasonably incurred and documented fees and expenses of counsel for the Underwriters relating to such filings, memorandum, registration and qualification in an aggregate amount up to $25,000); (vii) the transportation and other expenses incurred by or on behalf of the Company (and not the Underwriters) in connection with presentations to prospective purchasers of the Offered Securities, including roadshow expenses; (viii) the fees and expenses of the Companys accountants and the fees and expenses of counsel (including U.S. and Cayman Islands counsel) for the Company; and (ix) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder.
(j) For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs, the Company will use its best efforts to maintain the registration of the Ordinary Shares (or such other securities into which the Ordinary Shares may be exchanged in connection with a Business Combination) under the provisions of the Exchange Act, except after giving effect to a going private transaction after the completion of an initial Business Combination. During such applicable period, the Company will not deregister the Ordinary Shares under the Exchange Act (except in connection with an exchange pursuant to an initial Business Combination or a going private transaction after the completion of an initial Business Combination) without the prior written consent of the Representatives.
(k) The Company shall, on the date hereof, retain its independent registered public accounting firm to audit the balance sheet of the Company as of the Closing Date (the Audited Balance Sheet) reflecting the receipt by the Company of the proceeds of the Offering on the Closing Date. As soon as the Audited Balance Sheet becomes available, the Company shall promptly, but not later than four (4) Business Days after the Closing Date, file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission, which Current Report shall contain the Companys Audited Balance Sheet. Additionally, upon the Companys receipt of the proceeds from the exercise of all or any portion of the option provided for in Section 3 hereof, the Company shall promptly, but not later than four (4) Business Days after the receipt of such proceeds, file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission, which report shall disclose the Companys sale of the Optional Securities and its receipt of the proceeds therefrom, unless the receipt of such proceeds are reflected in the Current Report on Form 8-K referenced in the immediately prior sentence.
(l) For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs or the Ordinary Shares and Warrants cease to be publicly traded, the Company, at its expense, shall cause its regularly engaged independent registered public accounting firm to review (but not audit) the Companys financial statements for each of the first three (3) fiscal quarters prior to the announcement of quarterly financial information, the filing of the Companys Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and the mailing, if any, of quarterly financial information to shareholders.
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(m) For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs, the Company shall, to the extent such information or documents are not otherwise publicly available, upon written request from the Representatives, furnish to the Representatives copies of such financial statements and other periodic and special reports as the Company from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any class of securities, and promptly furnish to the Representatives: (i) a copy of such registration statements, financial statements and periodic and special reports as the Company shall be required to file with the Commission and from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any such class of its securities in their capacities as such; and (ii) such additional documents and information with respect to the Company and the affairs of any future subsidiaries of the Company as the Representatives may from time to time reasonably request, all subject to the execution of a satisfactory confidentiality agreement. Any registration statements, financial statements, periodic and special reports or other additional documents referred to in the preceding sentence filed or furnished on the Commissions EDGAR website will be considered furnished for the purposes of this section.
(n) For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs or the Ordinary Shares and Warrants cease to be publicly traded, the Company shall retain a transfer and warrant agent.
(o) In no event will the amounts payable by the Company for administrative and support services exceed $10,000 per month from the date hereof until the earlier of the date of the consummation of the Business Combination and the Liquidation.
(p) The Company will not consummate an initial Business Combination with any entity that is affiliated with the Sponsor or any of the Companys officers or directors unless it, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, obtains an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, or from an independent accounting firm, that such Business Combination is fair to the Company from a financial point of view. Other than as set forth in this subsection, or as otherwise contemplated in the proxy statement related to its initial Business Combination, the Company shall not pay the Sponsor or its affiliates or any of the Companys executive officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates any fees or compensation of any kind for services rendered to the Company prior to, or in connection with, the completion of an initial Business Combination; provided, however, that such officers, directors and affiliates (i) may receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on the Companys behalf related to identifying,
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investigating and completing an initial Business Combination; (ii) may be repaid loans as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus; (iii) may be paid customary fees for financial advisory services, including, but not limited to, services rendered pursuant to the COAC Services Agreement and CTS Services Agreement; and (iv) may be paid pursuant to the Administrative Services Agreement between the Company and the Sponsor, none of which will be made from the proceeds held in the Trust Account prior to completion of the initial Business Combination.
(q) The Company will apply the net proceeds from the Offering, the sale of the Private Placement Units and the Overfunding Loan received by it in a manner consistent in all material respects with the applications described under the caption Use of Proceeds in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.
(r) For a period of 60 days following the Effective Date, in the event any person or entity (regardless of any FINRA affiliation or association) is engaged to assist the Company in its search for a merger candidate or to provide any other merger and acquisition services, or has provided or will provide any investment banking, financial, advisory and/or consulting services to the Company, the Company agrees that it shall promptly provide to the Representatives and their counsel a notification prior to entering into the agreement or transaction relating to a potential Business Combination: (i) the identity of the person or entity providing any such services; (ii) complete details of all such services and copies of all agreements governing such services prior to entering into the agreement or transaction; and (iii) justification as to why the value received by any person or entity for such services is not underwriting compensation for the Offering.
(s) The Company agrees that proper disclosure of any arrangement or potential arrangement that the Company has with any person or entity to assist the Company in its search for a merger candidate or to provide any other merger and acquisition services or investment banking, financial, advisory and/or consulting services will be made in the tender offer materials or proxy statement, as applicable, which the Company may file in connection with the Business Combination for purposes of offering redemption of shares held by its shareholders or for soliciting shareholder approval, as applicable. To the extent that the Company discloses arrangements with respect to the Representatives, the Company will provide the Representatives with a reasonable opportunity to review and comment on any such tender offer materials or proxy statement.
(t) The Company shall promptly advise FINRA, the Representatives and their counsel if it is aware that any 10% or greater shareholder of the Company becomes an affiliate or associated person of a Member participating in the distribution of the Offered Securities.
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(u) The Company shall cause the proceeds of the Offering, the applicable portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units and the Overfunding Loan to be held in the Trust Account to be invested only in United States government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act as set forth in the Trust Agreement and disclosed in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus. The Company will otherwise conduct its business in a manner so that it will not become subject to the Investment Company Act. Furthermore, once the Company consummates a Business Combination, it will not be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.
(v) Prior to the earlier of the consummation of the Companys initial Business Combination and Liquidation, the Company may instruct the Trustee under the Trust Agreement to release from the Trust Account, (i) solely from interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account, the amounts necessary to pay taxes, and (ii) to pay Public Shareholders who properly redeem their Ordinary Shares in connection with a vote to approve an amendment to the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Companys obligation to allow redemption in connection with the Companys initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Ordinary Shares sold in the Offering if the Company does not complete its initial Business Combination within the time period required by the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders rights. Otherwise, all funds held in the Trust Account (including any interest income earned on the amounts held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable)) will remain in the Trust Account until the earlier of the consummation of the Companys initial Business Combination and the Liquidation; provided, however, that in the event of the Liquidation, up to $100,000 of interest income may be released to the Company if the proceeds of the Offering held by the Company outside of the Trust Account are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing the Companys plan of dissolution.
(w) The Company will reserve and keep available that maximum number of its authorized but unissued securities that are issuable upon exercise of the Warrants and the warrants included in the Private Placement Units, and upon conversion of the Founder Shares, outstanding from time to time.
(x) Prior to the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination and the Liquidation, the Company shall not issue (other than in replacement for lost, stolen or mutilated certificates) any Ordinary Shares, Warrants or any options or other securities convertible into or exercisable for Ordinary Shares, or any preferred shares, in each case, that participate in any manner in the Trust Account or that vote as a class with the Ordinary Shares on a Business Combination.
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(y) Prior to the earlier of the consummation of an initial Business Combination and the Liquidation, the Companys audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments made to the Sponsor, to the Companys officers or directors, or to the Companys or any of such other persons respective affiliates.
(z) The Company agrees that it will use commercially reasonable efforts to prevent the Company from becoming subject to Rule 419 under the Act prior to the consummation of any Business Combination, including, but not limited to, using its best efforts to prevent any of the Companys outstanding securities from being deemed to be a penny stock as defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act during such period.
(aa) To the extent required by Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act, the Company will maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as defined under Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) and a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with managements general or specific authorization, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary in order to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP and to maintain accountability for assets, (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with managements general or specific authorization, and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences.
(bb) For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs, the Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to effect and maintain the listing of the Ordinary Shares and Warrants on the New York Stock Exchange (or another national securities exchange). For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending on the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs, the Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to effect and maintain the listing of the Units on the New York Stock Exchange (or another national securities exchange).
(cc) As soon as legally required to do so, the Company and its directors and officers, in their capacities as such, have taken or shall take all actions necessary to comply with any applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications, and to comply with the New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual.
(dd) The Company shall not take any action or omit to take any action that would cause the Company to be in breach or violation of its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association.
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(ee) The Company will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than independent accountants), prospective target businesses, lenders or other entities with which it does business enter into agreements waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of the Public Shareholders. The Company may forego obtaining such waivers only if the Companys management shall have determined that such third partys engagement would be significantly more beneficial to the Company than any alternative.
(ff) The Company, subject to any applicable provision of the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, may consummate the initial Business Combination and conduct redemptions of Ordinary Shares for cash upon consummation of such Business Combination without a shareholder vote pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, including the filing of tender offer documents with the Commission. Such tender offer documents will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial Business Combination and the redemption rights as is required under the Commissions proxy rules and will provide each shareholder of the Company with the opportunity prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination to redeem the Ordinary Shares held by such shareholder for an amount of cash equal to (A) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, calculated as of two (2) Business Days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, representing (x) the proceeds held in the Trust Account from the Offering, the sale of the Private Placement Units and the Overfunding Loan and (y) any interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by (B) the total number of Ordinary Shares sold as part of the Units in the Offering (the Public Shares) then outstanding. If, however, the Company elects not to file such tender offer documents, a shareholder vote is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement in connection with the initial Business Combination, or the Company decides to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will submit such Business Combination to the Companys shareholders for their approval (Business Combination Vote). With respect to the initial Business Combination Vote, if any, the Sponsor and the directors and officers of the Company have agreed to vote all of their Founder Shares and any other Ordinary Shares they may acquire during or after the Offering in favor of the Companys initial Business Combination. If the Company seeks shareholder approval of the initial Business Combination, the Company will offer to each Public Shareholder holding Ordinary Shares the right to have its shares redeemed in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules of the Commission at a per share redemption price (the Redemption Price) equal to (I) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two (2) Business Days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, representing (1) the proceeds held in the Trust Account from the Offering, certain of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units and the Overfunding Loan and (2) any interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of any taxes
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payable), divided by (II) the total number of Public Shares then outstanding. If the Company seeks shareholder approval of the initial Business Combination, the Company may proceed with such Business Combination only if the Company receives an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the Companys ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the Company. If, after seeking and receiving such shareholder approval, the Company elects to so proceed, it will redeem shares, at the Redemption Price, from those Public Shareholders who validly and affirmatively requested (and did not validly withdraw) such redemption. Only Public Shareholders holding Ordinary Shares who properly exercise their redemption rights, in accordance with the applicable tender offer or proxy materials related to such Business Combination, shall be entitled to receive distributions from the Trust Account in connection with an initial Business Combination, and the Company shall pay no distributions with respect to any other holders of ordinary shares of the Company in connection therewith. In the event that the Company does not effect a Business Combination by the time period required by the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, 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 (10) Business Days thereafter, redeem 100% of the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable, divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Companys remaining shareholders and the Companys board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Companys obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Only Public Shareholders holding Ordinary Shares included in the Offered Securities shall be entitled to receive such redemption amounts and the Company shall pay no such redemption amounts or any distributions in liquidation with respect to any other ordinary shares of the Company. In the event that the Company proposes any amendment to its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association to modify the substance or timing of the Companys obligation to allow redemption in connection with the Companys initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the outstanding Public Shares if the Company has not consummated a Business Combination within the time period required by the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association; or with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders rights, as described in the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Company shall provide to the Public Shareholders the right to redeem their Public Shares in connection with such amendment.
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(gg) In the event that the Company desires or is required by an applicable law or regulation to cause an announcement (Business Combination Announcement) to be placed in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times or any other news or media publication or outlet or to be made via a public filing or submission with the Commission announcing the consummation of the Business Combination that indicates that the Underwriters were the underwriters in the Offering, the Company shall supply the Representatives with a draft of the Business Combination Announcement and provide the Representatives with a reasonable advance opportunity to comment thereon, subject to the agreement of the Underwriters to keep confidential such draft announcement in accordance with each Representatives standard policies regarding confidential information.
(hh) Upon the consummation of the initial Business Combination, the Company and the Representatives will jointly direct the Trustee to pay the Underwriters the Deferred Discount out of the proceeds of the Offering held in the Trust Account. The Underwriters shall have no claim to payment of any interest earned on the portion of the proceeds held in the Trust Account representing the Deferred Discount. If the Company fails to consummate its initial Business Combination within the time period required by the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Deferred Discount will not be paid to the Representatives and will, instead, be included in the Liquidation distribution of the proceeds held in the Trust Account made to the Public Shareholders. In connection with any such Liquidation, the Underwriters forfeit any rights or claims to the Deferred Discount.
(ii) The Company will arrange, in cooperation with the Representatives, to qualify the Offered Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives may reasonably designate and will maintain such qualifications in effect so long as required for the distribution of the Offered Securities; provided that no such qualification shall be required in any jurisdiction where, as a result thereof, the Company would be subject to service of general process or to taxation as a foreign corporation doing business in such jurisdiction, or would be required to qualify to do business in any jurisdiction where it is not now so qualified. Until the earliest of (i) the date on which all Underwriters shall have ceased to engage in market-making activities in respect of the Offered Securities, (ii) the date on which the Offered Securities are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (or any successor thereto), (iii) a going private transaction after the completion of a Business Combination, and (iv) the date of the Liquidation, in each jurisdiction where such qualification shall be effected, the Company will, unless the Representatives agree that such action is not at the time necessary or advisable, use all reasonable efforts to file and make such statements or reports at such times as are or may be required to qualify the Offered Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.
(jj) If at any time following the distribution of any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication included or would include any untrue statement of a material fact
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or omitted or would omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, the Company will promptly (i) notify the Representatives so that use of the Written Testing-the-Waters Communication may cease until it is amended or supplemented; (ii) amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication to eliminate or correct such untrue statement or omission; and (iii) supply any amendment or supplement to the Representatives in such quantities as may be reasonably requested.
(kk) The Company will promptly notify the Representatives if the Company ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company at any time prior to the later of (i) completion of the distribution of the Offered Securities within the meaning of the Act and (ii) completion of the 180-day restricted period referred to in Section 6(g) hereof.
(ll) Upon the earlier to occur of the expiration and termination of the Underwriters over-allotment option, the Company shall cancel or otherwise effect the forfeiture of Founder Shares from the Sponsor, in an aggregate amount equal to the number of Founder Shares determined by multiplying (a) 937,500 by (b) a fraction, (i) the numerator of which is 3,750,000 minus the number of Ordinary Shares purchased by the Underwriters upon the exercise of their over-allotment option, and (ii) the denominator of which is 3,750,000. For the avoidance of doubt, if the Underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full, the Company shall not cancel or otherwise effect the forfeiture of the Founder Shares pursuant to this subsection.
(mm) The Company will indemnify and hold harmless the Underwriters against any documentary, stamp or similar issue tax, including any interest and penalties, on the creation, issue and sale of the Offered Securities and on the initial resale thereof by the Underwriters and on the execution and delivery of this Agreement. All payments to be made by the Company hereunder shall be made without withholding or deduction for or on account of any present or future taxes, duties or governmental charges whatsoever unless the Company is compelled by law to deduct or withhold such taxes, duties or charges. In that event, the Company shall pay such additional amounts as may be necessary in order that the net amounts received after such withholding or deduction shall equal the amounts that would have been received if no withholding or deduction had been made.
7. Conditions of the Obligations of the Underwriters. The obligations of the Underwriters to purchase the Firm Securities and the Optional Securities, as the case may be, shall be subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company contained herein as of the Execution Time, the Closing Date and any settlement date pursuant to Section 4 hereof, to the accuracy of the statements of the Company made in any certificates pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions:
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(a) The Prospectus, and any supplement thereto, have been filed in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b); and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any notice objecting to its use shall have been issued and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been instituted or threatened.
(b) The Company shall have requested and caused Kirkland & Ellis LLP, counsel for the Company, to have furnished to the Representatives its opinions (including negative assurance), dated the Closing Date and any settlement date, as applicable, and addressed to the Representatives, in a form reasonably acceptable to the Representatives.
(c) The Company shall have requested and caused Maples and Calder, Cayman Islands counsel for the Company, to have furnished to the Representatives its opinions dated the Closing Date and any settlement date, as applicable, and addressed to the Representatives, in a form reasonably acceptable to the Representatives.
(d) The Representatives shall have received from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, such opinion or opinions (including negative assurance), dated the Closing Date and any settlement date, as applicable, and addressed to the Representatives, with respect to the issuance and sale of the Offered Securities, the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus, the Prospectus (together with any supplement thereto) and other related matters as the Representatives may reasonably require, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel such documents as they request for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon such matters.
(e) The Company shall have furnished to the Representatives a certificate of the Company, signed by its Chief Executive Officer and the principal financial or accounting officer of the Company, dated the Closing Date, and any settlement date, as applicable, to the effect that the signers of such certificate have carefully examined the Registration Statement and each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, and each road show as defined in Rule 433(h) of the Act used in connection with the Offering, and this Agreement and that:
(i) the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct on and as of such date with the same effect as if made on such date and the Company has complied with all the agreements and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to such date;
(ii) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any notice objecting to its use has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose or under Section 8A of the Securities Act have been instituted or, to the Companys knowledge, threatened; and
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(iii) since the date of the most recent financial statements included in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto), there has been no Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto).
(f) [Reserved].
(g) The Company shall have requested and caused Withum to have furnished to the Representatives, at the Execution Time and at the Closing Date and any settlement date, as applicable, letters, dated respectively as of the Execution Time and as of the Closing Date and any settlement date, as applicable, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives.
(h) Subsequent to the Execution Time or, if earlier, the dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement (exclusive of any amendment thereof), the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto), there shall not have been (i) any change or decrease specified in the letter or letters referred to in paragraph (g) of this Section 7 or (ii) any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in or affecting the earnings, business, management, properties, assets, rights, operations, condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company, whether or not arising from transactions in the ordinary course of business, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto) the effect of which, in any case referred to in clause (i) or (ii) above, is, in the sole judgment of the Representatives, so material and adverse as to make it impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering or delivery of the Offered Securities as contemplated by the Registration Statement (exclusive of any amendment thereof), the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto).
(i) Prior to the Closing Date, and any settlement date, as applicable, the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives such further information, certificates and documents as the Representatives may reasonably request.
(j) FINRA shall not have raised any objection with respect to the fairness or reasonableness of the underwriting or other arrangements of the transactions contemplated hereby.
(k) The Offered Securities shall be duly listed subject to notice of issuance on the New York Stock Exchange, satisfactory evidence of which shall have been provided to the Representatives.
(l) On the Effective Date, the Company shall have delivered to the Representatives executed copies of the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Founders Purchase Agreement, the Unit Subscription Agreement, the Insider Letter, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Administrative Services Agreement, the COAC Services Agreement and the CTS Services Agreement.
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(m) At least one Business Day prior to the Closing Date or a settlement date, as applicable, the Company shall have caused the applicable proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units and the Overfunding Loan to be deposited into the Trust Account such that the cumulative amount deposited into the Trust Account as of such Closing Date or such settlement date, as applicable, shall equal the product of the number of Units issued in the Offering as of such Closing Date or such settlement date, as applicable, and the public offering price per Unit as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus, plus an amount equal to $10.20 of each Unit issued in the Offering as of such Closing Date or such settlement date, as applicable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event will the Company take any action that would result in the Company receiving proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units and the Overfunding Loan in excess of the sum of: (i) the amount required to satisfy the obligation in the immediately preceding sentence; (ii) the amount of the discount from the public offering price represented by the purchase price and (iii) the amount of money to be held by the Company outside of the Trust Account, as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.
(n) No order preventing or suspending the sale of the Units in any jurisdiction designated by the Representatives pursuant to Section 6(ii) hereof shall have been issued as of the Closing Date, and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been instituted or shall have been threatened.
If any of the conditions specified in this Section 7 shall not have been fulfilled when and as provided in this Agreement, or if any of the opinions and certificates mentioned above or elsewhere in this Agreement shall not be reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters, this Agreement and all obligations of the Underwriters hereunder may be canceled at, or at any time prior to, the Closing Date by the Representatives. Notice of such cancellation shall be given to the Company in writing or by telephone or facsimile confirmed in writing.
The documents required to be delivered by this Section 7 shall be delivered electronically, or if by mail, at the office of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, 450 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York, 10017, Attention: Derek J. Dostal and Deanna L. Kirkpatrick (fax no.: (212) 446-4900), unless otherwise indicated herein, on the Closing Date and any settlement date, as applicable.
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8. Indemnification and Contribution.
(a) Indemnification of Underwriters. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, the directors, officers, employees, affiliates and agents of each Underwriter, each person, if any, who controls any such Underwriter within the meaning of either Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act and each other affiliate of any Underwriter within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Act, if any, from and against any and all losses, claims, damages and liabilities (including, without limitation, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in connection with defending or investigating any such action or claim) that arise out of, or are based upon, any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any part of the Registration Statement or amendment thereof, or any Preliminary Prospectus, any Statutory Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto, the Prospectus, any road show as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Act, any Company information that the Company has filed, or is required to file, pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, or arise out of, or are based upon, any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, except insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities arise out of, or are based upon, any such untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with any information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by the Underwriters through the Representatives consists of the information described as such in paragraph (b) below.
(b) Indemnification of Company. Each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, each of its directors and each of its officers who sign the Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of either Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act to the same extent as the foregoing indemnity from the Company to such Underwriter, but only with reference to information relating to such Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by or on behalf of such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto. The Company acknowledges that the following statements set forth under the heading Underwriting in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus constitute the only information furnished in writing by or on behalf of the Underwriters for inclusion in the documents referred to in the foregoing indemnity: (x) the list of Underwriters and their respective roles and participation in the sale of the Offered Securities; (y) the sentence related to the Underwriters intention not to make sales to discretionary accounts; and (z) the paragraphs related to stabilization, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids.
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(c) Actions against Parties; Notification. In case any proceeding (including any governmental investigation) shall be instituted involving any person in respect of which indemnity may be sought pursuant to Section 8(a) or 8(b), such person (the indemnified party) shall promptly notify the person against whom such indemnity may be sought (the indemnifying party) in writing and the indemnifying party, upon request of the indemnified party, shall retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party to represent the indemnified party and any others the indemnifying party may designate in such proceeding and shall pay the fees and disbursements of such counsel related to such proceeding. In any such proceeding, any indemnified party shall have the right to retain its own counsel, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such indemnified party unless (i) the indemnifying party and the indemnified party shall have mutually agreed to the retention of such counsel or (ii) the named parties to any such proceeding (including any impleaded parties) include both the indemnifying party and the indemnified party and representation of both parties by the same counsel would be inappropriate due to actual or potential differing interests between them. It is understood that the indemnifying party shall not, in respect of the legal expenses of any indemnified party in connection with any proceeding or related proceedings in the same jurisdiction, be liable for the fees and expenses of more than one separate firm (in addition to any local counsel) for all such indemnified parties and that all such fees and expenses shall be reimbursed as they are incurred. Such firm shall be designated in writing by the Representatives, in the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section 8(a), and by the Company, in the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section 8(b). The indemnifying party shall not be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent, but if settled with such consent or if there be a final judgment for the plaintiff, the indemnifying party agrees to indemnify the indemnified party from and against any loss or liability by reason of such settlement or judgment. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, if at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel as contemplated by the second and third sentences of this paragraph, the indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 30 days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request and (ii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed the indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified party, effect any settlement of any pending or threatened proceeding in respect of which any indemnified party is or could have been a party and indemnity could have been sought hereunder by such indemnified party, unless such settlement includes an unconditional release of such indemnified party from all liability on claims that are the subject matter of such proceeding.
(d) Contribution. To the extent the indemnification provided for in Section 8(a) or 8(b) is unavailable to an indemnified party or insufficient in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to therein, then each indemnifying party under such paragraph, in lieu of indemnifying such indemnified party thereunder, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (i)
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in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand from the offering and sale of the Offered Securities or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause 8(d)(i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause 8(d)(i) above but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and of the Underwriters on the other hand in connection with the statements or omissions that resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand in connection with the offering and sale of the Offered Securities shall be deemed to be in the same respective proportions as the net proceeds from the offering and sale of the Offered Securities (before deducting expenses) received by the Company and the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover of the Prospectus, bear to the aggregate public offering price of the Units. The relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or by the Underwriters and the parties relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Underwriters respective obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 8 are several in proportion to the respective number of Units they have purchased hereunder, and not joint.
(e) The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just or equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 8 were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation that does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in Section 8(d). The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages and liabilities referred to in Section 8(d) shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth above, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 8, no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Units underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages that such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The remedies provided for in this Section 8 are not exclusive and shall not limit any rights or remedies which may otherwise be available to any indemnified party at law or in equity.
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9. Default of Underwriters. If any Underwriter or Underwriters default in their obligations to purchase and pay for any of the Offered Securities agreed to be purchased by such Underwriter or Underwriters hereunder and the aggregate number of Offered Securities that such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase does not exceed 10% of the total number of Offered Securities that the Underwriters are obligated to purchase on the Closing Date, the Representatives may make arrangements satisfactory to the Company for the purchase of such Offered Securities by other persons, including any of the Underwriters, but if no such arrangements are made by the Closing Date, the non-defaulting Underwriters shall be obligated severally, in proportion to their respective commitments hereunder, to purchase the Offered Securities that such defaulting Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase on the Closing Date. If any Underwriter or Underwriters so default and the aggregate number of Offered Securities with respect to which such default or defaults occur exceeds 10% of the total number of Offered Securities that the Underwriters are obligated to purchase on the Closing Date and arrangements satisfactory to the Representatives and the Company for the purchase of such Offered Securities by other persons are not made within 36 hours after such default, this Agreement will terminate without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company, except as provided in Section 11 hereof (provided that if such default occurs with respect to Optional Securities after the Closing Date, this Agreement will not terminate as to the Firm Securities or any Optional Securities purchased prior to such termination). As used in this Agreement, the term Underwriter includes any person substituted for an Underwriter under this Section. Nothing herein will relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.
10. Termination. This Agreement shall be subject to termination in the absolute discretion of the Representatives, by notice given to the Company prior to delivery of and payment for the Offered Securities, if at any time prior to such delivery and payment (i) trading in the Companys Units, Ordinary Shares or Warrants shall have been suspended by the Commission, or trading in securities generally on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Capital Market (or successor trading market) shall have been suspended or limited or minimum prices shall have been established on such exchange or trading market, (ii) a banking moratorium shall have been declared either by Federal or New York State authorities, (iii) there shall have occurred a material disruption in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services, (iv) there shall have occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities, declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war, or other national or international calamity or crisis (including, without limitation, an act of terrorism) or change in economic or political conditions the effect of which on financial markets is such as to make it, in the sole judgment of the Representatives, impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering or delivery of the Offered Securities as contemplated by the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto), (v) since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, any material adverse change or any development involving a prospective material adverse change in or affecting the earnings, business, management, properties, assets, rights, operations, condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, (vi) the enactment, publication, decree or other promulgation of any statute, regulation, rule or order of any court or other
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governmental authority which in the opinion of the Representatives materially and adversely affects or may materially and adversely affect the business or operations of the Company, or (vii) the taking of any action by any governmental body or agency in respect of its monetary or fiscal affairs which in the opinion of the Representatives has a material adverse effect on the securities markets in the United States.
11. Survival of Certain Representations and Obligations. The respective indemnities, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements of the Company or its officers, directors and of the several Underwriters set forth in or made pursuant to this Agreement will remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation, or statement as to the results thereof, made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, the Company or any of their respective representatives, officers, directors or any controlling person, and will survive delivery of and payment for the Offered Securities. If the purchase of the Offered Securities by the Underwriters is not consummated for any reason other than solely because of the termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 9 hereof, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters for all out-of-pocket expenses (including fees and disbursements of counsel) reasonably incurred by them in connection with the offering and sale of the Offered Securities. The respective obligations of the Company and the Underwriters pursuant to Section 8 hereof shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of (i) any termination of this Agreement, (ii) any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, any person controlling any Underwriter or any affiliate of any Underwriter or by or on behalf of the Company, its officers or directors or any person controlling the Company and (iii) acceptance of and payment for any of the Offered Securities. In addition, if any Offered Securities have been purchased hereunder, the representations and warranties in Section 2 and all obligations under Section 6 shall also remain in effect.
12. Notices. All communications hereunder will be in writing and, if sent to the Underwriters, will be mailed or delivered and confirmed to the Representatives at: Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., 1 Columbus Circle, New York, New York 10019, Attention: Equity Capital Markets Syndicate Desk, with a copy to Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., 1 Columbus Circle, New York, New York 10019, Attention: General Counsel, fax: (646) 374-1071; PJT Partners LP, 280 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10017, Attention: Office of the General Counsel; or, if sent to the Company, will be mailed or delivered and confirmed to it at 875 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022, Attention: Chief Executive Officer with a copy to Kirkland & Ellis LLP, 601 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022, Attention: Christian O. Nagler and Peter Seligson (fax no.: (212) 446-4900); provided, however, that any notice to an Underwriter pursuant to Section 8 will be mailed or delivered and confirmed to such Underwriter.
13. Successors. This Agreement will inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and the officers, directors and director nominees and controlling persons referred to in Section 8 hereof, and no other person will have any right or obligation hereunder.
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14. Representation of Underwriters. The Representatives will act for the several Underwriters in connection with this financing, and any action under this Agreement taken by the Representatives will be binding upon all the Underwriters.
15. Counterparts; Electronic Signatures. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same Agreement. Delivery of this Agreement by one party to the other may be made by facsimile, electronic mail (including any electronic signature complying with the New York Electronic Signatures and Records Act (N.Y. State Tech. §§ 301-309), as amended from time to time, or other applicable law) or other transmission method, and the parties hereto agree that any counterpart so delivered shall be deemed to have been duly and validly delivered and be valid and effective for all purposes.
16. Reserved.
17. Reserved.
18. Headings. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof.
19. Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York.
The Company and each Underwriter hereby submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal and state courts in the Borough of Manhattan in The City of New York in any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby. The Company and each Underwriter irrevocably and unconditionally waives any objection to the laying of venue of any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby in Federal and state courts in the Borough of Manhattan in The City of New York and irrevocably and unconditionally waives and agrees not to plead or claim in any such court that any such suit or proceeding in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.
20. Entire Agreement.
(a) This Agreement, together with any contemporaneous written agreements and any prior written agreements (to the extent not superseded by this Agreement) that relate to the Offering, represents the entire agreement between the Company and the Underwriters with respect to the preparation of the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, the conduct of the Offering, and the purchase and sale of the Offered Securities.
(b) The Company acknowledges that in connection with the offering and sale of the Offered Securities: (i) the Underwriters have acted at arms length, are not agents of, and owe no fiduciary duties to, the Company or any other person, (ii) the Underwriters owe the Company only those duties and
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obligations set forth in this Agreement, any contemporaneous written agreements and prior written agreements (to the extent not superseded by this Agreement), if any, (iii) the Underwriters may have interests that differ from those of the Company, and (iv) none of the activities of the Underwriters in connection with the transactions contemplated herein constitutes a recommendation, investment advice, or solicitation of any action by the Underwriters with respect to any entity or natural person. The Company waives to the full extent permitted by applicable law any claims it may have against the Underwriters arising from an alleged breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the Offering.
21. Recognition of the U.S. Special Resolution Regimes.
In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, the transfer from such Underwriter of this Agreement, and any interest and obligation in or under this Agreement, will be effective to the same extent as the transfer would be effective under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement, and any such interest and obligation, were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.
In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity or a BHC Act Affiliate of such Underwriter becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, Default Rights under this Agreement that may be exercised against such Underwriters are permitted to be exercised to no greater extent than such Default Rights could be exercised under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.
22. Definitions. The terms that follow, when used in this Agreement, shall have the meanings indicated.
Act shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder.
Applicable Time shall mean [] [a.m./p.m.] (New York time) on the date of this Agreement.
BHC Act Affiliate has the meaning assigned to the term affiliate in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 U.S.C. § 1841(k).
Business Day shall mean any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday or a day on which banking institutions or trust companies are authorized or obligated by law to close in New York City.
Commission shall mean the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Covered Entity means any of the following:
(i) | a covered entity as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 252.82(b); |
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(ii) | a covered bank as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 47.3(b); or |
(iii) | covered FSI as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 382.2(b). |
Default Right has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable.
Effective Date shall mean each date and time that the Registration Statement, any post-effective amendment or amendments thereto and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement became or becomes effective.
Exchange Act shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder.
Execution Time shall mean the date and time that this Agreement is executed and delivered by the parties hereto.
Free Writing Prospectus shall mean a free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 405.
Liquidation shall mean the distributions of the Trust Account to the Public Shareholders in connection with the redemption of Ordinary Shares held by the Public Shareholders pursuant to the terms of the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, as amended, if the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination.
Preliminary Prospectus shall mean any preliminary prospectus referred to in paragraph 2(a) above and any preliminary prospectus included in the Registration Statement at the Effective Date that omits Rule 430A Information.
Prospectus shall mean the prospectus relating to the Offered Securities that is first filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) after the Execution Time.
Registration Statement shall mean the registration statements referred to in paragraph 2(a) above, including exhibits and financial statements and any prospectus and prospectus supplement relating to the Offered Securities that is filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) and deemed part of such registration statement pursuant to Rule 430A, as amended at the Execution Time and, in the event any post-effective amendment thereto or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement becomes effective prior to the Closing Date, shall also mean such registration statement as so amended or such Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, as the case may be.
Rule 158, Rule 172, Rule 405, Rule 419, Rule 424, Rule 430A, Rule 433, and Rule 462 refer to such rules under the Act.
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Rule 430A Information shall mean information with respect to the Offered Securities and the offering thereof permitted to be omitted from the Registration Statement when it becomes effective pursuant to Rule 430A.
Rule 462(b) Registration Statement shall mean a registration statement and any amendments thereto filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) relating to the offering covered by the registration statement referred to in Section 2(a) hereof.
Statutory Prospectus shall mean (i) the Preliminary Prospectus dated [], 2021, relating to the Offered Securities and (ii) the Time of Delivery Information, if any, set forth on Schedule II hereto.
U.S. Special Resolution Regime means each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
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If the foregoing is in accordance with the Representatives understanding of our agreement, kindly sign and return to the Company one of the counterparts hereof, whereupon it will become a binding agreement between the Company and the several Underwriters in accordance with its terms.
Very truly yours,
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II | ||
By: |
| |
Name: | ||
Title: |
[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]
The foregoing Underwriting Agreement is hereby confirmed
and accepted as of the date first above written.
DEUTSCHE BANK SECURITIES INC. | ||
By: |
| |
Name: | ||
Title: | ||
By: |
| |
Name: | ||
Title: |
PJT PARTNERS LP |
|
Name: |
Title: |
Acting on behalf of themselves and as the
Representatives of the several Underwriters.
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SCHEDULE I
Underwriter |
Number of Firm Securities |
|||
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. |
[ | ] | ||
|
|
|||
PJT Partners LP |
[ | ] | ||
|
|
|||
Total |
25,000,000 | |||
|
|
SCHEDULE II
TIME OF DELIVERY INFORMATION
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II priced 25,000,000 Units at $10.00 per Unit, plus an additional 3,750,000 Units if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full.
SCHEDULE III
SCHEDULE OF WRITTEN TESTING-THE-WATERS COMMUNICATIONS
Reference is made to the materials used in the testing-the-waters presentation made to potential investors by the Company, to the extent such materials are deemed to be a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended
Exhibit 4.1
SPECIMEN UNIT CERTIFICATE
NUMBER UNITS U-
SEE REVERSE FOR CERTAIN DEFINITIONS |
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II |
CUSIP []
UNITS CONSISTING OF ONE CLASS A ORDINARY SHARE AND ONE-THIRD OF ONE REDEEMABLE
WARRANT EACH WARRANT ENTITLING HOLDER TO PURCHASE ONE CLASS A ORDINARY SHARE
THIS CERTIFIES ____________________ is the owner of __________ Units.
Each Unit (Unit) consists of one (1) Class A ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share (Ordinary Shares), of Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II, a Cayman Islands exempted company (the Company), and one-third (1/3) of one redeemable warrant (each whole warrant, a Warrant). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one (1) Ordinary Share for $11.50 per share (subject to adjustment). Each Warrant will become exercisable thirty (30) days after the Companys completion of a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses (each, a Business Combination), and will expire unless exercised before 5:00 p.m., New York City Time, on the date that is five (5) years after the date on which the Company completes its initial Business Combination, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation (the Expiration Date). The Ordinary Shares and Warrants comprising the Units represented by this certificate are not transferable separately prior to , 2021, unless Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and PJT Partners LP elect to allow earlier separate trading, subject to the Companys filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission of a Current Report on Form 8-K containing an audited balance sheet reflecting the Companys receipt of the gross proceeds of the initial public offering and issuing a press release announcing when separate trading will begin. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole warrants are exercisable. The terms of the Warrants are governed by a Warrant Agreement, dated as of , 2021, between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as Warrant Agent, and are subject to the terms and provisions contained therein, all of which terms and provisions the holder of this certificate consents to by acceptance hereof. Copies of the Warrant Agreement are on file at the office of the Warrant Agent at 1 State Street, 30th Floor, New York, New York 10004, and are available to any Warrant holder on written request and without cost.
Upon the consummation of the Business Combination, the Units represented by this certificate will automatically separate into the Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants comprising such Units.
This certificate is not valid unless countersigned by the Transfer Agent and Registrar of the Company.
This certificate shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York.
Witness the facsimile signatures of its duly authorized officers.
By | ||||||||
Chairman | Chief Financial Officer |
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II
The Company will furnish without charge to each unitholder who so requests, a statement of the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof of the Company and the qualifications, limitations, or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights.
The following abbreviations, when used in the inscription on the face of this certificate, shall be construed as though they were written out in full according to applicable laws or regulations:
TEN COM | | as tenants in common | UNIF GIFT MIN ACT | Custodian | ||||
TEN ENT | | as tenants by the entireties | (Cust) (Minor) | |||||
JT TEN | | as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common | under Uniform Gifts to Minors Act | |||||
(State) |
Additional abbreviations may also be used though not in the above list.
For value received, __________________ hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto _________________________
(PLEASE INSERT SOCIAL SECURITY OR OTHER IDENTIFYING NUMBER OF ASSIGNEE)
(PLEASE PRINT OR TYPEWRITE NAME AND ADDRESS, INCLUDING ZIP CODE, OF ASSIGNEE)
_________________________ Units represented by the within Certificate, and hereby irrevocably constitutes and appoints _____________________ Attorney to transfer said Units on the books of the within named Company with full power of substitution in the premises.
Dated:_____________ | ||||||
Stockholder | ||||||
Notice: The signature to this assignment must correspond with the name as written upon the face of the certificate in every particular, without alteration or enlargement or any change whatever. | ||||||
Signature(s) Guaranteed: |
2
THE SIGNATURE(S) MUST BE GUARANTEED BY AN ELIGIBLE GUARANTOR INSTITUTION (BANKS, STOCKBROKERS, SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS WITH MEMBERSHIP IN AN APPROVED SIGNATURE GUARANTEE MEDALLION PROGRAM, PURSUANT TO S.E.C. RULE 17Ad-15 (OR ANY SUCCESSOR RULE)). |
3
In each case, as more fully described in the Companys final prospectus dated , 2021, the holder(s) of this certificate shall be entitled to receive a pro-rata portion of certain funds held in the trust account established in connection with the Companys initial public offering only in the event that (i) the Company redeems the Ordinary Shares sold in its initial public offering and liquidates because it does not consummate an initial business combination within the period of time set forth in the Companys amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, as the same may be amended from time to time, (ii) the Company redeems the Ordinary Shares sold in its initial public offering in connection with a shareholder vote to amend the Companys amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of the Companys obligation to provide holders of the Ordinary Shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with the Companys initial business combination or to redeem 100% of the Ordinary Shares if the Company does not complete its initial business combination within the time period set forth therein or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of the Ordinary Shares, or (iii) if the holder(s) seek(s) to redeem for cash his, her or its respective Ordinary Shares in connection with a tender offer (or proxy solicitation, solely in the event the Company seeks shareholder approval of the proposed initial business combination) setting forth the details of a proposed initial business combination. In no other circumstances shall the holder(s) have any right or interest of any kind in or to the trust account.
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Exhibit 4.4
WARRANT AGREEMENT
This agreement (Agreement) is made as of , 2021 between Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II, a Cayman Islands exempted company (the Company), and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a New York corporation, as warrant agent (the Warrant Agent, also referred to herein as the Transfer Agent).
WHEREAS, the Company is engaged in an initial public offering (the Offering) of units of the Companys equity securities, each such unit comprised of one Ordinary Share (as defined below) and one-third of one Public Warrant (as defined below) (the Units) and, in connection therewith, has determined to issue and deliver up to 9,583,333 warrants (including up to 1,250,000 warrants subject to the Over-allotment Option) to public investors in the Offering (the Public Warrants and, together with the Private Placement Warrants (as defined below), the Warrants). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (Ordinary Share), for $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. Only whole Warrants are exercisable. A holder of the Public Warrants will not be able to exercise any fraction of a Warrant; and
WHEREAS, the Company has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) a registration statement on Form S-1, No. 333-254265 (the Registration Statement) and prospectus (the Prospectus), for the registration, under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), of the Units, the Public Warrants and the Ordinary Share included in the Units; and
WHEREAS, on , 2021 the Company entered into that certain Private Placement Units Purchase Agreement, with Cerberus Telecom Acquisition II Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the Sponsor), pursuant to which the Sponsor will purchase an aggregate of 950,000 units (plus up to 75,000 additional units if the underwriter in the Companys initial public offering exercises its Over-allotment Option in full), simultaneously with the closing of the Offering (and the closing of the Over-allotment Option, if applicable) (the Private Placement Units) at a purchase price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit. The Private Placement Units include an aggregate of 316,666 private placement warrants (or 341,666 private placement warrants if the Over-allotment Option is exercised in full) (the Private Placement Warrants) bearing the legend set forth in Exhibit B hereto. Each Private Placement Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Ordinary Share (as defined below) at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein; and
WHEREAS, the Company desires the Warrant Agent to act on behalf of the Company, and the Warrant Agent is willing to so act, in connection with the issuance, registration, transfer, exchange, redemption, and exercise of the Warrants; and
WHEREAS, the Company desires to provide for the form and provisions of the Warrants, the terms upon which they shall be issued and exercised, and the respective rights, limitation of rights, and immunities of the Company, the Warrant Agent, and the holders of the Warrants; and
WHEREAS, all acts and things have been done and performed which are necessary to make the Warrants, when executed on behalf of the Company and countersigned by or on behalf of the Warrant Agent, as provided herein, the valid, binding, and legal obligations of the Company, and to authorize the execution and delivery of this Agreement.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Appointment of Warrant Agent. The Company hereby appoints the Warrant Agent to act as agent for the Company for the Warrants, and the Warrant Agent hereby accepts such appointment and agrees to perform the same in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement.
2. Warrants.
2.1 Form of Warrant. Each Warrant shall be issued in registered form only, shall be in substantially the form of Exhibit A hereto, the provisions of which are incorporated herein and shall be signed by, or bear the facsimile signature of, the Chairman of the Board of Directors or Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, Secretary or Assistant Secretary of the Company and shall bear a facsimile of the Companys seal. In the event the person whose facsimile signature has been placed upon any Warrant shall have ceased to serve in the capacity in which such person signed the Warrant before such Warrant is issued, it may be issued with the same effect as if he or she had not ceased to be such at the date of issuance.
2.2 Uncertificated Warrants. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, any Warrant, or portion thereof, may be issued as part of, and be represented by, a Unit, and any Warrant may be issued in uncertificated or book-entry form through the Warrant Agent and/or the facilities of The Depository Trust Company or other book-entry depositary system, in each case as determined by the Board of Directors of the Company or by an authorized committee thereof. Any Warrant so issued shall have the same terms, force and effect as a certificated Warrant that has been duly countersigned by the Warrant Agent in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.
2.3 Effect of Countersignature. Except with respect to uncertificated Warrants as described above, unless and until countersigned by the Warrant Agent pursuant to this Agreement, a Warrant shall be invalid and of no effect and may not be exercised by the holder thereof.
2.4 Registration.
2.4.1 Warrant Register. The Warrant Agent shall maintain books (Warrant Register) for the registration of original issuance and the registration of transfer of the Warrants. Upon the initial issuance of the Warrants, the Warrant Agent shall issue and register the Warrants in the names of the respective holders thereof in such denominations and otherwise in accordance with instructions delivered to the Warrant Agent by the Company.
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2.4.2 Registered Holder. Prior to due presentment for registration of transfer of any Warrant, the Company and the Warrant Agent may deem and treat the person in whose name such Warrant is then registered in the Warrant Register (registered holder) as the absolute owner of such Warrant and of each Warrant represented thereby (notwithstanding any notation of ownership or other writing on the Warrant certificate made by anyone other than the Company or the Warrant Agent), for the purpose of any exercise thereof, and for all other purposes, and neither the Company nor the Warrant Agent shall be affected by any notice to the contrary.
2.5 Detachability of Warrants. The securities comprising the Units will not be separately transferable until the 52nd day following the date of the Prospectus or, if such 52nd day is not on a day, other than Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, on which banks in New York City are generally open for normal business (a Business Day), then on the immediately succeeding Business Day following such date, or earlier with the consent of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and PJT Partners LP, as the representatives of the several underwriters (the Representatives), but in no event will the Representatives allow separate trading of the securities comprising the Units until (i) the Company has filed a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting the receipt by the Company of the gross proceeds of the Public Offering including the proceeds received by the Company from the exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option in the Public Offering (the Over-allotment Option), if the Over-allotment Option is exercised prior to the filing of the Form 8-K, and (ii) the Company has issued a press release announcing when such separate trading shall begin (the Detachment Date); provided that no fractional Warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole Warrants will trade.
2.6 Private Placement Warrant and Working Capital Warrant Attributes. The Private Placement Warrants and warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans (the Working Capital Warrants) will be issued in the same form as the Public Warrants; provided that the Private Placement Warrants and Working Capital Warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3.3.1(d) and the Private Placement Warrants and Working Capital Warrants are not redeemable pursuant to Section 6.1.
3. Terms and Exercise of Warrants.
3.1 Warrant Price. Each whole Warrant shall, when countersigned by the Warrant Agent (except with respect to uncertificated Warrants), entitle the registered holder thereof, subject to the provisions of such Warrant and of this Agreement, to purchase from the Company the number of Ordinary Shares stated therein, at the price of $11.50 per share, subject to the adjustments provided in Section 4 hereof and in the last sentence of this Section 3.1. The term Warrant Price as used in this Agreement refers to the price per share at which the Ordinary Shares may be purchased at the time a Warrant is exercised. The Company in its sole discretion may lower the Warrant Price at any time prior to the Expiration Date (as defined below) for a period of not less than twenty (20) Business Days; provided, that the Company shall provide at least twenty (20) days prior written notice of such reduction to registered holders of the Warrants and, provided further that any such reduction shall be applied consistently to all of the Warrants.
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3.2 Duration of Warrants. A Warrant may be exercised only during the period commencing on the later of 30 days after the consummation by the Company of a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (Business Combination) (as described more fully in the Registration Statement), and terminating at 5:00 p.m., New York City time on the earlier to occur of (i) five years from the consummation of a Business Combination, (ii) the Redemption Date as provided in Section 6.2 of this Agreement and (iii) the liquidation of the Company (Expiration Date). The period of time from the date the Warrants will first become exercisable until the expiration of the Warrants shall hereafter be referred to as the Exercise Period. Except with respect to the right to receive the Redemption Price (as set forth in Section 6 hereunder), as applicable, each Warrant not exercised on or before the Expiration Date shall become void, and all rights thereunder and all rights in respect thereof under this Agreement shall cease at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the Expiration Date. The Company in its sole discretion may extend the duration of the Warrants by delaying the Expiration Date; provided, however, that the Company will provide at least twenty (20) days prior written notice of any such extension to registered holders and, provided further that any such extension shall be applied consistently to all of the Warrants.
3.3 Exercise of Warrants.
3.3.1 Payment. Subject to the provisions of the Warrant and this Agreement, a Warrant, when countersigned by the Warrant Agent, may be exercised by the registered holder thereof by surrendering it, at the office of the Warrant Agent, or at the office of its successor as Warrant Agent, in the Borough of Manhattan, City and State of New York, with the subscription form, as set forth in the Warrant, duly executed, and by paying in full the Warrant Price for each full Ordinary Share as to which the Warrant is exercised and any and all applicable taxes due in connection with the exercise of the Warrant, the exchange of the Warrant for the Ordinary Shares and the issuance of such Ordinary Shares, as follows:
(a) in lawful money of the United States, by good certified check or wire payable to the Warrant Agent; or
(b) in the event of redemption pursuant to Section 6 hereof in which the Companys management has elected to force all holders of Warrants to exercise such Warrants on a cashless basis, by surrendering the Warrants for that number of Ordinary Shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Ordinary Shares underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the difference between the Warrant Price and the Fair Market Value (defined below) by (y) the Fair Market Value. Solely for purposes of this Section 3.3.1(b), the Fair Market Value shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Ordinary Shares for the ten (10) trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to holders of the Warrants pursuant to Section 6 hereof;
(c) in the event the registration statement required by Section 7.4 hereof is not effective and current within sixty (60) Business Days after the closing of a Business Combination, by surrendering such Warrants for that number of Ordinary Shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Ordinary Shares underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the Warrants and the
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Fair Market Value by (y) the Fair Market Value; provided, however, that no cashless exercise shall be permitted unless the Fair Market Value is equal to or higher than the exercise price. Solely for purposes of this Section 3.3.1(c), the Fair Market Value shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Ordinary Shares for the ten (10) trading days ending on the third (3rd) trading day prior to the date on which notice of exercise of the Warrant is sent to the Warrant Agent ; or
(d) with respect to any Private Placement Warrant, by surrendering the Warrants for that number of Ordinary Shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Ordinary Shares underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the excess of the Sponsor Exercise Fair Market Value (as defined in this Section 3.3.1(d)) less the Warrant Price by (y) the Sponsor Exercise Fair Market Value. Solely for purposes of this Section 3.3.1(d), the Sponsor Exercise Fair Market Value shall mean the average last reported sale price of the Ordinary Shares for the ten (10) trading days ending on the third (3rd) trading day prior to the date on which notice of exercise of the Private Placement Warrant is sent to the Warrant Agent.
3.3.2 Issuance of Ordinary Shares. As soon as practicable after the exercise of any Warrant and the clearance of the funds in payment of the Warrant Price (if any), the Company shall issue to the registered holder of such Warrant a certificate or certificates, or book entry position, for the number of Ordinary Shares to which he, she or it is entitled, registered in such name or names as may be directed by him, her or it, and if such Warrant shall not have been exercised in full, a new countersigned Warrant, or book entry position, for the number of shares as to which such Warrant shall not have been exercised. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the Warrant exercise. No Warrant shall be exercisable for cash and the Company shall not be obligated to issue Ordinary Shares upon exercise of a Warrant unless the Ordinary Shares issuable upon such Warrant exercise have been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the Warrants. In the event that the condition in the immediately preceding sentence is not satisfied with respect to a Warrant, the holder of such Warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such Warrant for cash and such Warrant may have no value and expire worthless, in which case the purchaser of a Unit containing such Public Warrants shall have paid the full purchase price for the Unit solely for the Ordinary Shares underlying such Unit. Warrants may not be exercised by, or securities issued to, any registered holder in any state in which such exercise would be unlawful.
3.3.3 Valid Issuance. All Ordinary Shares issued upon the proper exercise of a Warrant in conformity with this Agreement shall be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.
3.3.4 Date of Issuance. Each person in whose name any book entry position or certificate for Ordinary Shares is issued shall for all purposes be deemed to have become the holder of record of such shares on the date on which the Warrant, or book entry position representing such Warrant, was surrendered and payment of the Warrant Price was made, irrespective of the date of delivery of such certificate, except that, if the date of such surrender and payment is a date when the share transfer books of the Company or book entry system of the Warrant Agent are closed, such person shall be deemed to have become the holder of such shares at the close of business on the next succeeding date on which the share transfer books or book entry system are open.
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3.3.5 Maximum Percentage. A holder of a Warrant may notify the Company in writing in the event it elects to be subject to the provisions contained in this subsection 3.3.5; however, no holder of a Warrant shall be subject to this subsection 3.3.5 unless he, she or it makes such election. If the election is made by a holder, the Warrant Agent shall not effect the exercise of the holders Warrant, and such holder shall not have the right to exercise such Warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such persons affiliates), to the Warrant Agents actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (the Maximum Percentage) of the Ordinary Shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise. For purposes of the foregoing sentence, the aggregate number of Ordinary Shares beneficially owned by such person and its affiliates shall include the number of Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrant with respect to which the determination of such sentence is being made, but shall exclude Ordinary Shares that would be issuable upon (x) exercise of the remaining, unexercised portion of the Warrant beneficially owned by such person and its affiliates and (y) exercise or conversion of the unexercised or unconverted portion of any other securities of the Company beneficially owned by such person and its affiliates (including, without limitation, any convertible notes or convertible preference shares or warrants) subject to a limitation on conversion or exercise analogous to the limitation contained herein. Except as set forth in the preceding sentence, for purposes of this paragraph, beneficial ownership shall be calculated in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). For purposes of the Warrant, in determining the number of outstanding Ordinary Shares, the holder may rely on the number of outstanding Ordinary Shares as reflected in (1) the Companys most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q, current report on Form 8-K or other public filing with the SEC as the case may be, (2) a more recent public announcement by the Company or (3) any other notice by the Company or the Transfer Agent setting forth the number of Ordinary Shares outstanding. For any reason at any time, upon the written request of the holder of the Warrant, the Company shall, within two (2) Business Days, confirm orally and in writing to such holder the number of Ordinary Shares then outstanding. In any case, the number of outstanding Ordinary Shares shall be determined after giving effect to the conversion or exercise of equity securities of the Company by the holder and its affiliates since the date as of which such number of outstanding Ordinary Shares was reported. By written notice to the Company, the holder of a Warrant may from time to time increase or decrease the Maximum Percentage applicable to such holder to any other percentage specified in such notice; provided, however, that any such increase shall not be effective until the sixty-first (61st) day after such notice is delivered to the Company.
4. Adjustments.
4.1 Share Dividends; Share Sub-division. If after the date hereof, and subject to the provisions of Section 4.6 below, the number of outstanding Ordinary Shares is increased by a share dividend payable in Ordinary Shares, or by a consolidation, combination, sub-division or reclassification of Ordinary shares or similar event, then, on the effective date of such share dividend, consolidation, combination, sub-division or reclassification of Ordinary shares or similar event, the number of Ordinary Shares issuable on exercise of each Warrant shall be increased in proportion to such increase in outstanding Ordinary Shares.
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4.2 Aggregation of Shares. If after the date hereof, the number of outstanding Ordinary Shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination, sub-division or reclassification of Ordinary Shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, sub-division, reclassification or similar event, the number of Ordinary Shares issuable on exercise of each Warrant shall be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding Ordinary Shares.
4.3 Extraordinary Dividends. If the Company, at any time while the Warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pays to all or substantially all of the holders of Ordinary Shares a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets of such Ordinary Shares (or other shares into which the Warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described in Section 4.1 above, (b) Ordinary Cash Dividends (as defined below), (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Ordinary Shares in connection with a proposed initial Business Combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Ordinary Shares in connection with a shareholder vote to amend the Companys amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association) (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Companys obligation to provide holders of Ordinary Shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with the Companys initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Companys public shares if it does not complete its initial Business Combination within the time period required by the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, as amended from time to time, or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of Ordinary Shares, or (e) in connection with the redemption of public shares upon the failure of the Company to complete its initial Business Combination and any subsequent distribution of its assets upon its liquidation (any such non-excluded event being referred to herein as an Extraordinary Dividend), then the Warrant Price shall be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such Extraordinary Dividend, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value (as determined by the Companys board of directors (the Board), in good faith) of any securities or other assets paid on each Ordinary Share in respect of such Extraordinary Dividend. For purposes of this Section 4.3, Ordinary Cash Dividends means any cash dividend or cash distribution which, when combined on a per share basis, with the per share amounts of all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the Ordinary Shares during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution to the extent it does not exceed $0.50 (which amount shall be adjusted to appropriately reflect any of the events referred to in other subsections of this Section 4 and excluding cash dividends or cash distributions that resulted in an adjustment to the Warrant Price or to the number of Ordinary Shares issuable on exercise of each Warrant).
4.4 Adjustments in Exercise Price. Whenever the number of Ordinary Shares purchasable upon the exercise of the Warrants is adjusted, as provided in Sections 4.1 and 4.2 above, the Warrant Price shall be adjusted (to the nearest cent) by multiplying such Warrant Price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which shall be the number of Ordinary Shares purchasable upon the exercise of the Warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which shall be the number of Ordinary Shares so purchasable immediately thereafter.
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4.5 Replacement of Securities upon Reorganization, etc. In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding Ordinary Shares (other than a change covered by Section 4.1, 4.2 or 4.3 hereof or that solely affects the par value of the Ordinary Shares), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which the Company is the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding Common Stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of the Company as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which the Company is dissolved, the Warrant holders shall thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the Warrants and in lieu of the Ordinary Shares of the Company immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the Warrant holder would have received if such Warrant holder had exercised his, her or its Warrant(s) immediately prior to such event. If any reclassification also results in a change in the Ordinary Shares covered by Section 4.1, 4.2 or 4.3, then such adjustment shall be made pursuant to Sections 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and this Section 4.5. The provisions of this Section 4.5 shall similarly apply to successive reclassifications, reorganizations, mergers or consolidations, sales or other transfers. In no event will the Warrant Price be reduced to less than the par value per share issuable upon exercise of the Warrant.
4.6 Issuance in connection with a Business Combination. If, in connection with a Business Combination, the Company (a) issues additional Ordinary Shares or equity-linked securities at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share (with such issue price or effective issue price as determined by the Companys Board of Directors, in good faith, and in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor, the initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any shares of the Companys Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the Class B Ordinary Shares), issued prior to the Public Offering and held by the initial shareholders or their affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the Newly Issued Price), (b) 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 Business Combination on the date of the consummation of such Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (c) the Market Value (as defined below) is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) Newly Issued Price, and the Redemption Trigger Price (as defined below) will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the Newly Issued Price. Solely for purposes of this Section 4.6, the Market Value shall mean the volume weighted average trading price of the Ordinary Shares during the twenty (20) trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the date of the consummation of the Business Combination.
4.7 Notices of Changes in Warrant. Upon every adjustment of the Warrant Price or the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a Warrant, the Company shall give written notice thereof to the Warrant Agent, which notice shall state the Warrant Price resulting from such adjustment and the increase or decrease, if any, in the number of shares purchasable at such price upon the exercise of a Warrant, setting forth in reasonable detail the method of
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calculation and the facts upon which such calculation is based. Upon the occurrence of any event specified in Sections 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, or 4.6, then, in any such event, the Company shall give written notice to each Warrant holder, at the last address set forth for such holder in the Warrant Register, of the record date or the effective date of the event. Failure to give such notice, or any defect therein, shall not affect the legality or validity of such event.
4.8 No Fractional Warrants or Shares. Notwithstanding any provision contained in this Agreement to the contrary, the Company shall not issue fractional shares upon exercise of Warrants. If, by reason of any adjustment made pursuant to this Section 4, the holder of any Warrant would be entitled, upon the exercise of such Warrant, to receive a fractional interest in a share, the Company shall, upon such exercise, round up to the nearest whole number of Ordinary Shares to be issued to the Warrant holder.
4.9 Form of Warrant. The form of Warrant need not be changed because of any adjustment pursuant to this Section 4, and Warrants issued after such adjustment may state the same Warrant Price and the same number of shares as is stated in the Warrants initially issued pursuant to this Agreement. However, the Company may at any time in its sole discretion make any change in the form of Warrant that the Company may deem appropriate and that does not affect the substance thereof, and any Warrant thereafter issued or countersigned, whether in exchange or substitution for an outstanding Warrant or otherwise, may be in the form as so changed.
4.10 Other Events. In case any event shall occur affecting the Company as to which none of the provisions of preceding subsections of this Section 4 are strictly applicable, but which would require an adjustment to the terms of the Warrants in order to (i) avoid an adverse impact on the Warrants and (ii) effectuate the intent and purpose of this Section 4, then, in each such case, the Company shall appoint a firm of independent public accountants, investment banking or other appraisal firm of recognized national standing, which shall give its opinion as to whether or not any adjustment to the rights represented by the Warrants is necessary to effectuate the intent and purpose of this Section 4 and, if they determine that an adjustment is necessary, the terms of such adjustment. The Company shall adjust the terms of the Warrants in a manner that is consistent with any adjustment recommended in such opinion.
4.11 No Adjustment. For the avoidance of doubt, no adjustment shall be made to the terms of the Warrants solely as a result of an adjustment to the conversion ratio of the Class B Ordinary Shares into Ordinary Shares or the conversion of Class B Ordinary Shares into Ordinary Shares, in each case, pursuant to the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and articles of association, as further amended from time to time.
5. Transfer and Exchange of Warrants.
5.1 Registration of Transfer. The Warrant Agent shall register the transfer, from time to time, of any outstanding Warrant upon the Warrant Register, upon surrender of such Warrant for transfer, properly endorsed with signatures, in the case of certificated Warrants, properly guaranteed and accompanied by appropriate instructions for transfer. Upon any such transfer, a new Warrant representing an equal aggregate number of Warrants shall be issued and the old Warrant shall be cancelled by the Warrant Agent. In the case of certificated Warrants, the Warrants so cancelled shall be delivered by the Warrant Agent to the Company from time to time upon request.
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5.2 Procedure for Surrender of Warrants. Warrants may be surrendered to the Warrant Agent, either in certificated form or in book entry position, together with a written request for exchange or transfer, and thereupon the Warrant Agent shall issue in exchange therefor one or more new Warrants, or book entry positions, as requested by the registered holder of the Warrants so surrendered, representing an equal aggregate number of Warrants; provided, however, that in the event that a Warrant surrendered for transfer bears a restrictive legend, the Warrant Agent shall not cancel such Warrant and issue new Warrants in exchange therefor until the Warrant Agent has received an opinion of counsel for the Company stating that such transfer may be made and indicating whether the new Warrants must also bear a restrictive legend.
5.3 Fractional Warrants. The Warrant Agent shall not be required to effect any registration of transfer or exchange which will result in the issuance of a warrant certificate or book-entry position for a fraction of a warrant, except as part of the Units.
5.4 Service Charges. No service charge shall be made for any exchange or registration of transfer of Warrants.
5.5 Warrant Execution and Countersignature. The Warrant Agent is hereby authorized to countersign and to deliver, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Warrants required to be issued pursuant to the provisions of this Section 5, and the Company, whenever required by the Warrant Agent, will supply the Warrant Agent with Warrants duly executed on behalf of the Company for such purpose.
5.6 Transfers prior to Detachment. Prior to the Detachment Date, the Public Warrants may be transferred or exchanged only together with the Unit in which such Warrant is included, and only for the purpose of effecting, or in conjunction with, a transfer or exchange of such Unit. Furthermore, each transfer of a Unit on the register relating to such Units shall operate also to transfer the Warrants included in such Unit. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this Section 5.6 shall have no effect on any transfer of Warrants on or after the Detachment Date.
6. Redemption.
6.1 Redemption. Not less than all of the outstanding Warrants may be redeemed, at the option of the Company, at any time during the Exercise Period, at the office of the Warrant Agent, upon the notice referred to in Section 6.2, at the price of $0.01 per Warrant (Redemption Price), provided that the last sales price of the Ordinary Shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (subject to adjustment in accordance with Section 4 hereof) (the Redemption Trigger Price), on each of twenty (20) trading days within any thirty (30) trading day period commencing after the Warrants become exercisable and ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which notice of redemption is given and provided that there is an effective registration statement covering the Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, and a current prospectus relating thereto, available throughout the 30-day redemption or the Company has elected to require the exercise of the Warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to subsection
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3.3.1(b); provided, however, that if and when the Public Warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may not exercise such redemption right if the issuance of Ordinary Shares upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or the Company is unable to effect such registration or qualification.
6.2 Date Fixed for, and Notice of, Redemption. In the event the Company shall elect to redeem all of the Warrants that are subject to redemption, the Company shall fix a date for the redemption (the Redemption Date). Notice of redemption shall be mailed by first class mail, postage prepaid, by the Company not less than thirty (30) days prior to the Redemption Date to the registered holders of the Warrants to be redeemed at their last addresses as they shall appear on the registration books. Any notice mailed in the manner herein provided shall be conclusively presumed to have been duly given whether or not the registered holder received such notice.
6.3 Exercise After Notice of Redemption. The Public Warrants may be exercised, for cash (or on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3 of this Agreement) at any time after notice of redemption shall have been given by the Company pursuant to Section 6.2 hereof and prior to the Redemption Date. In the event the Company determines to require all holders of Public Warrants to exercise their Warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to Section 3.3.1(b), the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of Ordinary Shares to be received upon exercise of the Warrants, including the Fair Market Value in such case. On and after the Redemption Date, the record holder of the Warrants shall have no further rights except to receive, upon surrender of the Warrants, the Redemption Price.
7. Other Provisions Relating to Rights of Holders of Warrants.
7.1 No Rights as Shareholder. A Warrant does not entitle the registered holder thereof to any of the rights of a shareholder of the Company, including, without limitation, the right to receive dividends, or other distributions, exercise any preemptive rights to vote or to consent or to receive notice as shareholders in respect of the meetings of shareholders or the election of directors of the Company or any other matter.
7.2 Lost, Stolen, Mutilated, or Destroyed Warrants. If any Warrant is lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed, the Company and the Warrant Agent may on such terms as to indemnity or otherwise as they may in their discretion impose (which shall, in the case of a mutilated Warrant, include the surrender thereof), issue a new Warrant of like denomination, tenor, and date as the Warrant so lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed. Any such new Warrant shall constitute a substitute contractual obligation of the Company, whether or not the allegedly lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed Warrant shall be at any time enforceable by anyone.
7.3 Reservation of Ordinary Shares. The Company shall at all times reserve and keep available a number of its authorized but unissued Ordinary Shares that will be sufficient to permit the exercise in full of all outstanding Warrants issued pursuant to this Agreement.
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7.4 Registration of Ordinary Shares. The Company agrees that as soon as practicable after the closing of its initial Business Combination, but in no event later than twenty (20) Business Days after the closing of its Initial Business Combination, it shall use its best efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement or a new registration statement for the registration, under the Act, of the Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, and it shall use its best efforts to take such action as is necessary to register or qualify for sale, in those states in which the Warrants were initially offered by the Company and in those states where holders of Warrants then reside, the Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, to the extent an exemption is not available. The Company will use its best efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement until the expiration of the Warrants in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement. If any such registration statement has not been declared effective by the 60th Business Day following the closing of the Business Combination, holders of the Warrants shall have the right, during the period beginning on the 61st Business Day after the closing of the Business Combination and ending upon such registration statement being declared effective by the SEC, and during any other period when the Company shall fail to have maintained an effective registration statement covering the Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, to exercise such Warrants on a cashless basis as determined in accordance with Section 3.3.1(c). The Company shall provide the Warrant Agent with an opinion of counsel for the Company (which shall be an outside law firm with securities law experience) stating that (i) the exercise of the Warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with this Section 7.4 is not required to be registered under the Act and (ii) the Ordinary Shares issued upon such exercise will be freely tradable under U.S. federal securities laws by anyone who is not an affiliate (as such term is defined in Rule 144 under the Act) of the Company and, accordingly, will not be required to bear a restrictive legend. For the avoidance of any doubt, unless and until all of the Warrants have been exercised on a cashless basis, the Company shall continue to be obligated to comply with its registration obligations under the first three sentences of this Section 7.4. The provisions of this Section 7.4 may not be modified, amended, or deleted without the prior written consent of the Representatives.
8. Concerning the Warrant Agent and Other Matters.
8.1 Payment of Taxes. The Company will from time to time promptly pay all taxes and charges that may be imposed upon the Company or the Warrant Agent in respect of the issuance or delivery of Ordinary Shares upon the exercise of Warrants, but the Company shall not be obligated to pay any transfer taxes in respect of the Warrants or such shares.
8.2 Resignation, Consolidation, or Merger of Warrant Agent.
8.2.1 Appointment of Successor Warrant Agent. The Warrant Agent, or any successor to it hereafter appointed, may resign its duties and be discharged from all further duties and liabilities hereunder after giving sixty (60) days notice in writing to the Company. If the office of the Warrant Agent becomes vacant by resignation or incapacity to act or otherwise, the Company shall appoint in writing a successor Warrant Agent in place of the Warrant Agent. If the Company shall fail to make such appointment within a period of thirty (30) days after it has been notified in writing of such resignation or incapacity by the Warrant Agent or by the holder of the Warrant (who shall, with such notice, submit his Warrant for inspection by the
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Company), then the holder of any Warrant may apply to the Supreme Court of the State of New York for the County of New York for the appointment of a successor Warrant Agent at the Companys cost. Any successor Warrant Agent, whether appointed by the Company or by such court, shall be a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York, in good standing and having its principal office in the Borough of Manhattan, City and State of New York, and authorized under such laws to exercise corporate trust powers and subject to supervision or examination by federal or state authority. After appointment, any successor Warrant Agent shall be vested with all the authority, powers, rights, immunities, duties, and obligations of its predecessor Warrant Agent with like effect as if originally named as Warrant Agent hereunder, without any further act or deed; but if for any reason it becomes necessary or appropriate, the predecessor Warrant Agent shall execute and deliver, at the expense of the Company, an instrument transferring to such successor Warrant Agent all the authority, powers, and rights of such predecessor Warrant Agent hereunder; and upon request of any successor Warrant Agent the Company shall make, execute, acknowledge, and deliver any and all instruments in writing for more fully and effectually vesting in and confirming to such successor Warrant Agent all such authority, powers, rights, immunities, duties, and obligations.
8.2.2 Notice of Successor Warrant Agent. In the event a successor Warrant Agent shall be appointed, the Company shall give notice thereof to the predecessor Warrant Agent and the Transfer Agent for the Ordinary Shares not later than the effective date of any such appointment.
8.2.3 Merger or Consolidation of Warrant Agent. Any corporation into which the Warrant Agent may be merged or with which it may be consolidated or any corporation resulting from any merger or consolidation to which the Warrant Agent shall be a party shall be the successor Warrant Agent under this Agreement without any further act.
8.3 Fees and Expenses of Warrant Agent.
8.3.1 Remuneration. The Company agrees to pay the Warrant Agent reasonable remuneration for its services as such Warrant Agent hereunder and will reimburse the Warrant Agent upon demand for all expenditures that the Warrant Agent may reasonably incur in the execution of its duties hereunder.
8.3.2 Further Assurances. The Company agrees to perform, execute, acknowledge, and deliver or cause to be performed, executed, acknowledged, and delivered all such further and other acts, instruments, and assurances as may reasonably be required by the Warrant Agent for the carrying out or performing of the provisions of this Agreement.
8.4 Liability of Warrant Agent.
8.4.1 Reliance on Company Statement. Whenever in the performance of its duties under this Agreement, the Warrant Agent shall deem it necessary or desirable that any fact or matter be proved or established by the Company prior to taking or suffering any action hereunder, such fact or matter (unless other evidence in respect thereof be herein specifically prescribed) may be deemed to be conclusively proved and established by a statement signed by the Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Development Officer, President, Secretary or Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company and delivered to the Warrant Agent. The Warrant Agent may rely upon such statement for any action taken or suffered in good faith by it pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement.
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8.4.2 Indemnity. The Warrant Agent shall be liable hereunder only for its own fraud, gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith. The Company agrees to indemnify the Warrant Agent and save it harmless against any and all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees, for anything done or omitted by the Warrant Agent in the execution of this Agreement except as a result of the Warrant Agents fraud, gross negligence, willful misconduct, or bad faith.
8.4.3 Exclusions. The Warrant Agent shall have no responsibility with respect to the validity of this Agreement or with respect to the validity or execution of any Warrant (except its countersignature thereof); nor shall it be responsible for any breach by the Company of any covenant or condition contained in this Agreement or in any Warrant; nor shall it be responsible to make any adjustments required under the provisions of Section 4 hereof or responsible for the manner, method, or amount of any such adjustment or the ascertaining of the existence of facts that would require any such adjustment; nor shall it by any act hereunder be deemed to make any representation or warranty as to the authorization or reservation of any Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to this Agreement or any Warrant or as to whether any Ordinary Shares will, when issued, be valid and fully paid and nonassessable.
8.5 Acceptance of Agency. The Warrant Agent hereby accepts the agency established by this Agreement and agrees to perform the same upon the terms and conditions herein set forth and among other things, shall account promptly to the Company with respect to Warrants exercised and concurrently account for, and pay to the Company, all monies received by the Warrant Agent for the purchase of Ordinary Shares through the exercise of Warrants.
9. Miscellaneous Provisions.
9.1 Successors. All the covenants and provisions of this Agreement by or for the benefit of the Company or the Warrant Agent shall bind and inure to the benefit of their respective successors and assigns.
9.2 Notices. Any notice, statement or demand authorized by this Agreement to be given or made by the Warrant Agent or by the holder of any Warrant to or on the Company shall be sufficiently given when so delivered if by hand or overnight delivery or if sent by certified mail or private courier service within five (5) days after deposit of such notice, postage prepaid, addressed (until another address is filed in writing by the Company with the Warrant Agent), as follows:
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II
875 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Attn: Bill Kloos
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with a copy to:
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
601 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Attention: Christian O. Nagler
Peter S. Seligson
Any notice, statement or demand authorized by this Agreement to be given or made by the holder of any Warrant or by the Company to or on the Warrant Agent shall be sufficiently given when so delivered if by hand or overnight delivery or if sent by certified mail or private courier service within five days after deposit of such notice, postage prepaid, addressed (until another address is filed in writing by the Warrant Agent with the Company), as follows:
Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company
1 State Street, 30th Floor
New York, New York 10004
Attn: Compliance Department
9.3 Applicable Law and Exclusive Forum. The validity, interpretation, and performance of this Agreement and of the Warrants shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflicts of law principles that would result in the application of the substantive laws of another jurisdiction. Subject to applicable law, the Company hereby agrees that any action, proceeding or claim against it arising out of or relating in any way to this Agreement, including under the Act, shall 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 irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. The Company hereby waives any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this paragraph 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 the Warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in this Section 9.3. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions above, is filed in a court other than a court located within 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 warrant holder, such warrant holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District 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 holders counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
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9.4 Persons Having Rights under this Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement expressed and nothing that may be implied from any of the provisions hereof is intended, or shall be construed, to confer upon, or give to, any person or corporation other than the parties hereto and the registered holders of the Warrants any right, remedy, or claim under or by reason of this Agreement or of any covenant, condition, stipulation, promise, or agreement hereof. All covenants, conditions, stipulations, promises, and agreements contained in this Agreement shall be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the parties hereto (and the Representatives with respect to Sections 7.4, 9.4, 9.8 hereof) and their successors and assigns and of the registered holders of the Warrants.
9.5 Examination of the Warrant Agreement. A copy of this Agreement shall be available at all reasonable times at the office of the Warrant Agent in the Borough of Manhattan, City and State of New York, for inspection by the registered holder of any Warrant. The Warrant Agent may require any such holder to submit his Warrant for inspection by it.
9.6 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of original or facsimile counterparts and each of such counterparts shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument.
9.7 Effect of Headings. The section headings herein are for convenience only and are not part of this Agreement and shall not affect the interpretation thereof.
9.8 Amendments. This Agreement may be amended by the parties hereto without the consent of any registered holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or to correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions hereof to the description of the terms of the Warrants and this Agreement set forth in the Prospectus, or curing, correcting or supplementing any defective provision contained herein, or (ii) adding or changing any other provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under this Agreement as the parties may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem shall not adversely affect the interest of the registered holders. All other modifications or amendments, including any amendment to increase the Warrant Price or shorten the Exercise Period, shall require the written consent or vote of the registered holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding Public Warrants. Notwithstanding the foregoing, (a) any amendment to the terms of the Private Placement Warrants shall only require the the consent of the Company and the holders of a majority of the Private Placement Warrants and (b) the Company may lower the Warrant Price or extend the duration of the Exercise Period pursuant to Sections 3.1 and 3.2, respectively, without the consent of the registered holders.
9.9 Trust Account Waiver. The Warrant Agent acknowledges and agrees that it shall not make any claims or proceed against the trust account established by the Company in connection with the Public Offering (as more fully described in the Registration Statement) (Trust Account), including by way of set-off, and shall not be entitled to any funds in the Trust Account under any circumstance. In the event that the Warrant Agent has a claim against the Company under this Agreement, the Warrant Agent will pursue such claim solely against the Company and not against the property held in the Trust Account.
9.10 Severability. This Agreement shall be deemed severable, and the invalidity or unenforceability of any term or provision hereof shall not affect the validity or enforceability of this Agreement or of any other term or provision hereof. Furthermore, in lieu of any such invalid or unenforceable term or provision, the parties hereto intend that there shall be added as a part of this Agreement a provision as similar in terms to such invalid or unenforceable provision as may be possible and be valid and enforceable.
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Exhibit A Form of Warrant Certificate
Exhibit B Legend
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Agreement has been duly executed by the parties hereto as of the day and year first above written.
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II | ||
By: |
||
Name: | ||
Title: |
CONTINENTAL STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST COMPANY, as Warrant Agent | ||
By: |
||
Name: | ||
Title: |
[Signature Page to Warrant Agreement]
EXHIBIT A
[FACE]
Number
Warrants
THIS WARRANT SHALL BE VOID IF NOT EXERCISED PRIOR TO
THE EXPIRATION OF THE EXERCISE PERIOD PROVIDED FOR
IN THE WARRANT AGREEMENT DESCRIBED BELOW
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II
Incorporated Under the Laws of the Cayman Islands
Warrant Certificate
This Warrant Certificate certifies that [ ], or registered assigns, is the registered holder of [ ] warrant(s) (the Warrants and each, a Warrant) to purchase Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value (Ordinary Shares), of Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II, a Cayman Islands exempted company (the Company). Each Warrant entitles the holder, upon exercise during the period set forth in the Warrant Agreement referred to below, to receive from the Company that number of fully paid and nonassessable Ordinary Shares as set forth below, at the exercise price (the Exercise Price) as determined pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, payable in lawful money (or through cashless exercise as provided for in the Warrant Agreement) of the United States of America upon surrender of this Warrant Certificate and payment of the Exercise Price at the office or agency of the Warrant Agent referred to below, subject to the conditions set forth herein and in the Warrant Agreement. Defined terms used in this Warrant Certificate but not defined herein shall have the meanings given to them in the Warrant Agreement.
Each whole Warrant is initially exercisable for one fully paid and non-assessable Ordinary Share. Fractional shares shall not be issued upon exercise of any Warrant. If, upon the exercise of Warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in an Ordinary Share, the Company shall, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Ordinary Shares to be issued to the Warrant holder. The number of Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events as set forth in the Warrant Agreement.
The initial Exercise Price per one Ordinary Share for any Warrant is equal to $11.50 per share. The Exercise Price is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events as set forth in the Warrant Agreement.
Subject to the conditions set forth in the Warrant Agreement, the Warrants may be exercised only during the Exercise Period and to the extent not exercised by the end of such Exercise Period, such Warrants shall become void. The Warrants may be redeemed, subject to certain conditions, as set forth in the Warrant Agreement.
Reference is hereby made to the further provisions of this Warrant Certificate set forth on the reverse hereof and such further provisions shall for all purposes have the same effect as though fully set forth at this place.
This Warrant Certificate shall not be valid unless countersigned by the Warrant Agent, as such term is used in the Warrant Agreement. This Warrant Certificate shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York.
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II | ||
By: |
||
Name: | ||
Title: Authorized Signatory |
CONTINENTAL STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST | ||
COMPANY, | ||
AS WARRANT AGENT |
By: |
||
Name: | ||
Title: |
2
[Form of Warrant Certificate]
[Reverse]
The Warrants evidenced by this Warrant Certificate are part of a duly authorized issue of Warrants entitling the holder on exercise to receive [ ] Ordinary Shares and are issued or to be issued pursuant to a Warrant Agreement dated as of [ ], 2021 (the Warrant Agreement), duly executed and delivered by the Company to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a New York corporation, as warrant agent (the Warrant Agent), which Warrant Agreement is hereby incorporated by reference in and made a part of this instrument and is hereby referred to for a description of the rights, limitation of rights, obligations, duties and immunities thereunder of the Warrant Agent, the Company and the holders (the words holders or holder meaning the Registered Holders or Registered Holder, respectively) of the Warrants. A copy of the Warrant Agreement may be obtained by the holder hereof upon written request to the Company. Defined terms used in this Warrant Certificate but not defined herein shall have the meanings given to them in the Warrant Agreement.
Warrants may be exercised at any time during the Exercise Period set forth in the Warrant Agreement. The holder of Warrants evidenced by this Warrant Certificate may exercise them by surrendering this Warrant Certificate, with the form of Election to Purchase set forth hereon properly completed and executed, together with payment of the Exercise Price as specified in the Warrant Agreement (or through cashless exercise as provided for in the Warrant Agreement) at the principal corporate trust office of the Warrant Agent. In the event that upon any exercise of Warrants evidenced hereby the number of Warrants exercised shall be less than the total number of Warrants evidenced hereby, there shall be issued to the holder hereof or his, her or its assignee, a new Warrant Certificate evidencing the number of Warrants not exercised.
Notwithstanding anything else in this Warrant Certificate or the Warrant Agreement, no Warrant may be exercised unless at the time of exercise (i) a registration statement covering the issuance of the Ordinary Shares to be issued upon exercise is effective under the Securities Act and (ii) a prospectus thereunder relating to the Ordinary Shares is current, except through cashless exercise as provided for in the Warrant Agreement.
The Warrant Agreement provides that upon the occurrence of certain events the number of Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants set forth on the face hereof may, subject to certain conditions, be adjusted. If, upon exercise of a Warrant, the holder thereof would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in an Ordinary Share, the Company shall, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of Ordinary Shares to be issued to the holder of the Warrant.
Warrant Certificates, when surrendered at the principal corporate trust office of the Warrant Agent by the Registered Holder thereof in person or by legal representatives or attorney duly authorized in writing, may be exchanged, in the manner and subject to the limitations provided in the Warrant Agreement, but without payment of any service charge, for another Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates of like tenor evidencing in the aggregate a like number of Warrants.
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Upon due presentation for registration of transfer of this Warrant Certificate at the office of the Warrant Agent a new Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates of like tenor and evidencing in the aggregate a like number of Warrants shall be issued to the transferee(s) in exchange for this Warrant Certificate, subject to the limitations provided in the Warrant Agreement, without charge except for any tax or other governmental charge imposed in connection therewith.
The Company and the Warrant Agent may deem and treat the Registered Holder(s) hereof as the absolute owner(s) of this Warrant Certificate (notwithstanding any notation of ownership or other writing hereon made by anyone), for the purpose of any exercise hereof, of any distribution to the holder(s) hereof, and for all other purposes, and neither the Company nor the Warrant Agent shall be affected by any notice to the contrary. Neither the Warrants nor this Warrant Certificate entitles any holder hereof to any rights of a shareholder of the Company.
Election to Purchase
(To Be Executed Upon Exercise of Warrant)
The undersigned hereby irrevocably elects to exercise the right, represented by this Warrant Certificate, to receive [ ] Ordinary Shares and herewith tenders payment for such Ordinary Shares to the order of Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II (the Company) in the amount of $[ ] in accordance with the terms hereof. The undersigned requests that a certificate for such Ordinary Shares be registered in the name of [ ], whose address is [ ] and that such Ordinary Shares be delivered to [ ] whose address is [ ]. If said [ ] number of Ordinary Shares is less than all of the Ordinary Shares purchasable hereunder, the undersigned requests that a new Warrant Certificate representing the remaining balance of such Ordinary Shares be registered in the name of [ ], whose address is [ ] and that such Warrant Certificate be delivered to [ ], whose address is [ ].
In the event that the Warrant has been called for redemption by the Company pursuant to Section 6.1 of the Warrant Agreement, the number of Ordinary Shares that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with subsection 3.3.1(b) or Section 6.1 of the Warrant Agreement, as applicable.
In the event that the Warrant is a Private Placement Warrant that is to be exercised on a cashless basis pursuant to subsection 3.3.1(d) of the Warrant Agreement, the number of Ordinary Shares that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with subsection 3.3.1(d) of the Warrant Agreement.
In the event that the Warrant may be exercised, to the extent allowed by the Warrant Agreement, through cashless exercise (i) the number of Ordinary Shares that this Warrant is exercisable for would be determined in accordance with the relevant section of the Warrant Agreement which allows for such cashless exercise and (ii) the holder hereof shall complete the following: The undersigned hereby irrevocably elects to exercise the right, represented by this Warrant Certificate, through the cashless exercise provisions of the Warrant Agreement, to receive Ordinary Shares. If said number of shares is less than all of the Ordinary Shares purchasable hereunder (after giving effect to the cashless exercise), the undersigned requests that a new Warrant Certificate representing the remaining balance of such Ordinary Shares be registered in the name of [ ], whose address is [ ] and that such Warrant Certificate be delivered to [ ], whose address is [ ].
[Signature Page Follows]
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Date: [ ], 20
(Signature) |
(Address) |
|
(Tax Identification Number) |
Signature Guaranteed: |
|
THE SIGNATURE(S) SHOULD BE GUARANTEED BY AN ELIGIBLE GUARANTOR INSTITUTION (BANKS, STOCKBROKERS, SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS WITH MEMBERSHIP IN AN APPROVED SIGNATURE GUARANTEE MEDALLION PROGRAM, PURSUANT TO S.E.C. RULE 17Ad-15 UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED).
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EXHIBIT B
LEGEND
THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED, SOLD, TRANSFERRED OR OTHERWISE DISPOSED OF UNLESS REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION IS AVAILABLE. IN ADDITION, SUBJECT TO ANY ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFER DESCRIBED IN THE LETTER AGREEMENT BY AND AMONG CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II (THE COMPANY), CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION II HOLDINGS, LLC AND THE OTHER PARTIES THERETO (THE LETTER AGREEMENT), THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE MAY NOT BE SOLD OR TRANSFERRED PRIOR TO THE DATE THAT IS THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER THE DATE UPON WHICH THE COMPANY COMPLETES ITS INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION (AS DEFINED IN SECTION 3 OF THE WARRANT AGREEMENT REFERRED TO HEREIN) EXCEPT TO A PERMITTED TRANSFEREE (AS DEFINED IN SECTION 5 OF THE LETTER AGREEMENT) WHO AGREES IN WRITING WITH THE COMPANY TO BE SUBJECT TO SUCH TRANSFER PROVISIONS.
SECURITIES EVIDENCED BY THIS CERTIFICATE AND CLASS A ORDINARY SHARES OF THE COMPANY ISSUED UPON EXERCISE OF SUCH SECURITIES SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REGISTRATION RIGHTS UNDER A REGISTRATION AND SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS AGREEMENT TO BE EXECUTED BY THE COMPANY.
NO. [ ] WARRANT
Exhibit 10.8
, 2021
Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II
875 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Re: Initial Public Offering
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This letter (this Letter Agreement) is being delivered to you in accordance with the Underwriting Agreement (the Underwriting Agreement) entered into by and among Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II, a Cayman Islands exempted company (the Company) and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and PJT Partners LP, as representatives (the Representatives) of the several underwriters (the Underwriters), relating to an underwritten initial public offering (the Public Offering) of 25,000,000 of the Companys units (and up to an additional 3,750,000 units that may be purchased pursuant to the Underwriters option to purchase additional units, the Units), each comprised of one of the Companys Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the Ordinary Shares), and one-third of one redeemable warrant (each whole warrant, a Warrant). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Ordinary Share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The Units will be sold in the Public Offering pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 and a prospectus (the Prospectus) filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission). Certain capitalized terms used herein are defined in paragraph 1 hereof.
In order to induce the Company and the Underwriters to enter into the Underwriting Agreement and to proceed with the Public Offering and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, Cerberus Telecom Acquisition II Holdings, LLC (the Sponsor) and each of the undersigned (each, an Insider and, collectively, the Insiders) hereby agree with the Company as follows:
1. Definitions. As used herein, (i) Business Combination shall mean a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities; (ii) Founder Shares shall mean the 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share, outstanding prior to the consummation of the Public Offering; (iii) Private Placement Units shall mean the units that will be acquired by the Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $9,500,000 (or up to $10,250,000 if the Underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional units in full) in a private placement that shall close simultaneously with the consummation of the Public Offering (including the Ordinary Shares (the Private Placement Shares) and private placement warrants underlying such units (the Private Placement Warrants) and the Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of such Private Placement Warrants thereof); (iv) Public Shareholders shall mean the holders of Ordinary Shares included in the Units issued in the Public Offering; (v) Public Shares shall mean the Ordinary Shares included in the Units issued in the Public Offering; (vi) Trust Account shall mean the trust account into which a portion of the net proceeds of the Public
Offering, a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Units shall be deposited and the $5,000,000 (or up to $5,750,000 if the Underwriters option to purchase additional units in connection with the Companys initial public offering is exercised in full) loan from the Sponsor to the Company; (vii) Transfer shall mean the (a) sale of, offer to sell, contract or agreement to sell, hypothecate, pledge, grant of any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of or agreement to dispose of, directly or indirectly, or establishment or increase of a put equivalent position or liquidation with respect to or decrease of a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder with respect to, any security, (b) entry into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any security, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of such securities, in cash or otherwise, or (c) public announcement of any intention to effect any transaction specified in clause (a) or (b); and (ix) Charter shall mean the Companys Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, as the same may be amended from time to time.
2. Representations and Warranties.
(a) The Sponsor and each Insider, with respect to itself, herself or himself, represent and warrant to the Company that it, she or he has the full right and power, without violating any agreement to which it, she or he is bound (including, without limitation, any non-competition or non-solicitation agreement with any employer or former employer), to enter into this Letter Agreement, as applicable, and to serve as an officer of the Company and/or a director on the Companys Board of Directors (the Board), as applicable, and each Insider hereby consents to being named in the Prospectus, road show and any other materials as an officer and/or director of the Company, as applicable.
(b) Each Insider represents and warrants, with respect to herself or himself, that such Insiders biographical information furnished to the Company (including any such information included in the Prospectus) is true and accurate in all material respects and does not omit any material information with respect to such Insiders background. The Insiders questionnaire furnished to the Company is true and accurate in all material respects. Each Insider represents and warrants that such Insider is not subject to or a respondent in any legal action for, any injunction, cease-and-desist order or order or stipulation to desist or refrain from any act or practice relating to the offering of securities in any jurisdiction; such Insider has never been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, any crime (i) involving fraud, (ii) relating to any financial transaction or handling of funds of another person, or (iii) pertaining to any dealings in any securities and such Insider is not currently a defendant in any such criminal proceeding; and such Insider has never been suspended or expelled from membership in any securities or commodities exchange or association or had a securities or commodities license or registration denied, suspended or revoked.
3. Business Combination Vote. It is acknowledged and agreed that the Company shall not enter into a definitive agreement regarding a proposed Business Combination without the prior consent of the Sponsor. The Sponsor and each Insider, with respect to itself, or herself or himself, agrees that if the Company seeks shareholder approval of a proposed initial Business Combination, then in connection with such proposed initial Business Combination, it, she or he, as applicable,
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shall vote all Founder Shares, Private Placement Shares and any Public Shares held by it, her or him, as applicable, in favor of such proposed initial Business Combination (including any proposals recommended by the Board in connection with such Business Combination) and not redeem any Public Shares held by it, her or him, as applicable, in connection with such shareholder approval.
4. Failure to Consummate a Business Combination; Trust Account Waiver.
(a) The Sponsor and each Insider hereby agree, with respect to itself, herself or himself, that in the event that the Company fails to consummate its initial Business Combination within the time period set forth in the Charter, the Sponsor and each Insider shall take all reasonable steps to cause the Company to (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously release to the Company to pay income 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 Shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Companys remaining shareholders and the Board, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to the Companys obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. The Sponsor and each Insider agree not to propose any amendment to the Charter (i) that would modify the substance or timing of the Companys obligation to provide holders of the Public Shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with an initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if the Company does not complete an initial Business Combination within the required time period set forth in the Charter or (ii) with respect to any provision relating to the rights of holders of Public Shares unless the Company provides its Public Shareholders 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 the Company to pay taxes, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding Public Shares.
(b) The Sponsor and each Insider, with respect to itself, herself or himself, acknowledges that it, she or he has no right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account or any other asset of the Company as a result of any liquidation of the Company with respect to the Founder Shares held by it, her or him, if any. The Sponsor and each of the Insiders hereby further waive, with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by it, her or him, as applicable, any redemption rights it, she or he may have in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination, including, without limitation, any such rights available in the context of a shareholder vote to approve such Business Combination or a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Charter (i) that would modify the substance or timing of the Companys obligation to provide holders of the Public Shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with an initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the
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Public Shares if the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination within the time period set forth in the Charter or (ii) with respect to any provision relating to the rights of holders of Public Shares (although the Sponsor and the Insiders shall be entitled to liquidation rights with respect to any Public Shares they hold if the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination within the required time period set forth in the Charter).
5. Lock-up; Transfer Restrictions.
(a) The Sponsor and the Insiders agree that they shall not Transfer any Founder Shares (the Founder Shares Lock-up) until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of an initial Business Combination and (B) the date following the completion of an initial Business Combination on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Companys shareholders having the right to exchange their Ordinary Shares for cash, securities or other property (the Founder Shares Lock-up Period). Notwithstanding the foregoing, if, subsequent to a Business Combination, the closing price of the Ordinary Shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, share consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Companys initial Business Combination, the Founder Shares shall be released from the Founder Shares Lock-up.
(b) The Sponsor and Insiders agree that they shall not effectuate any Transfer of the Private Placement Units, Private Placement Shares, the Private Placement Warrants or Ordinary Shares underlying such warrants until 30 days after the completion of an initial Business Combination.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions set forth in paragraphs 5(a) and (b), Transfers of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Units, the Private Placement Shares and Private Placement Warrants are permitted (a) to the Companys officers or directors, any affiliate or family member of any of the Companys officers or directors, any members or partners of the Sponsor or their affiliates, any affiliates of the Sponsor, or any employees of such affiliates; (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the individuals immediate family, any estate planning vehicle or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individuals immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination at prices no greater than the price at which the Founder Shares, Private Placement Shares, Private Placement Warrants or the Private Placement Units, as applicable, were originally purchased; (f) pro rata distributions from the Sponsor to its members, partners, or stockholders pursuant to the Sponsors operating agreement; (g) by virtue of the Sponsors organizational documents upon liquidation or dissolution of the Sponsor; (h) to the Company for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of an initial Business Combination; (i) in the event of the Companys liquidation prior to the completion of a Business Combination; or (j) in the event of completion of a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction
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which results in all of the Companys Public Shareholders having the right to exchange their Ordinary Shares for cash, securities or other property subsequent to the completion of an initial Business Combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (g) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions.
(d) During the period commencing on the effective date of the Underwriting Agreement and ending 180 days after such date, the Sponsor and each Insider shall not, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, Transfer any Units, Ordinary Shares, Warrants or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, Ordinary Shares held by it, her or him, as applicable, subject to certain exceptions enumerated in Section 6(h) of the Underwriting Agreement.
6. Remedies. The Sponsor and each of the Insiders hereby agree and acknowledge that (i) each of the Underwriters and the Company would be irreparably injured in the event of a breach by the Sponsor or such Insider of its, her or his obligations, as applicable under paragraphs 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 and 11, (ii) monetary damages may not be an adequate remedy for such breach and (iii) the non-breaching party shall be entitled to injunctive relief, in addition to any other remedy that such party may have in law or in equity, in the event of such breach.
7. Payments by the Company. Except as disclosed in the Prospectus, neither the Sponsor nor any affiliate of the Sponsor nor any director or officer of the Company nor any affiliate of the officers shall receive from the Company any finders fee, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate the consummation of the Companys initial Business Combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).
8. Director and Officer Liability Insurance. The Company will maintain an insurance policy or policies providing directors and officers liability insurance, and the Insiders shall be covered by such policy or policies, in accordance with its or their terms, to the maximum extent of the coverage available for any of the Companys directors or officers.
9. Termination. This Letter Agreement shall terminate on the earlier of (i) the expiration of the Founder Shares Lock-up Period and (ii) the liquidation of the Company.
10. Indemnification. In the event of the liquidation of the Trust Account upon the failure of the Company to consummate its initial Business Combination within the time period set forth in the Charter, the Sponsor (the Indemnitor) agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever (including, but not limited to, any and all legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, whether pending or threatened) to which the Company may become subject as a result of any claim by (i) any third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company (except for the Companys independent auditors) or (ii) any prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement (a Target); provided, however, that such indemnification of the Company by the Indemnitor (x) shall apply only to the extent necessary to ensure that such claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company or a Target do not reduce the amount of funds in the
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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, in each case net of interest that may be withdrawn to pay the Companys tax obligations, (y) shall not apply to any claims by a third party or Target who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) and (z) shall not apply to any claims under the Companys indemnity of the Underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Indemnitor shall have the right to defend against any such claim with counsel of its choice reasonably satisfactory to the Company if, within 15 days following written receipt of notice of the claim to the Indemnitor, the Indemnitor notifies the Company in writing that it shall undertake such defense.
11. Forfeiture of Founder Shares. To the extent that the Underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional Units within 45 days from the date of the Prospectus in full (as further described in the Prospectus), the Sponsor agrees to automatically surrender to the Company for no consideration, for cancellation at no cost, an aggregate number of Founder Shares so that the number of Founder Shares will equal of 20% of the sum of the total number of Ordinary Shares and Founder Shares (excluding the Private Placement Shares) outstanding at such time. The Sponsor and Insiders further agree that to the extent that the size of the Public Offering is increased or decreased, the Company will effect a share capitalization or a share repurchase, as applicable, with respect to the Founder Shares immediately prior to the consummation of the Public Offering in such amount as to maintain the number of Founder Shares at 20% of the sum of the total number of Ordinary Shares and Founder Shares (excluding the Private Placement Shares) to be outstanding immediately after the consummation of the Public Offering.
12. Entire Agreement. This Letter Agreement constitutes the entire agreement and understanding of the parties hereto in respect of the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior understandings, agreements, or representations by or among the parties hereto, written or oral, to the extent they relate in any way to the subject matter hereof or the transactions contemplated hereby. This Letter Agreement may not be changed, amended, modified or waived (other than to correct a typographical error) as to any particular provision, except by a written instrument executed by all parties hereto.
13. Assignment. No party hereto may assign either this Letter Agreement or any of its rights, interests, or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the other parties. Any purported assignment in violation of this paragraph shall be void and ineffectual and shall not operate to transfer or assign any interest or title to the purported assignee. This Letter Agreement shall be binding on the Sponsor, each of the Insiders and each of their respective successors, heirs, personal representatives and assigns and permitted transferees.
14. Counterparts. This Letter Agreement may be executed in any number of original or facsimile counterparts, and each of such counterparts shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument.
15. Effect of Headings. The paragraph headings herein are for convenience only and are not part of this Letter Agreement and shall not affect the interpretation thereof.
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16. Severability. This Letter Agreement shall be deemed severable, and the invalidity or unenforceability of any term or provision hereof shall not affect the validity or enforceability of this Letter Agreement or of any other term or provision hereof. Furthermore, in lieu of any such invalid or unenforceable term or provision, the parties hereto intend that there shall be added as a part of this Letter Agreement a provision as similar in terms to such invalid or unenforceable provision as may be possible and be valid and enforceable.
17. Governing Law. This Letter Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflicts of law principles that would result in the application of the substantive laws of another jurisdiction. The parties hereto (i) all agree that any action, proceeding, claim or dispute arising out of, or relating in any way to, this Letter Agreement shall be brought and enforced in the courts of New York City, in the State of New York, and irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction and venue, which jurisdiction and venue shall be exclusive, and (ii) waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and venue or that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
18. Notices. Any notice, consent or request to be given in connection with any of the terms or provisions of this Letter Agreement shall be in writing and shall be sent by express mail or similar private courier service, by certified mail (return receipt requested), by hand delivery or facsimile transmission.
[Signature Page Follows]
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Sincerely, | ||
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION II |
By: |
Name: | William Kloos | |
Title: | Secretary |
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Timothy M. Donahue |
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Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir |
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Jeffrey L. Lomasky |
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Nicholas P. Robinson |
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Michael K. Palmer |
|
Dr. Hossein Moiin |
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Robert C. Davenport |
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Timothy Kasbe |
[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LETTER AGREEMENT]
Acknowledged and Agreed: | ||
CERBERUS TELECOM ACQUISITION CORP. II |
By: |
Name: | William Kloos | |
Title: | Secretary |
[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LETTER AGREEMENT]
Exhibit 23.1
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We hereby consent to the use in this Registration Statement Amendment No. 2 to Form S-1, of our report dated November 24, 2021, relating to the balance sheet of Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. II as of February 10, 2021, and the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders equity and cash flows for the period from February 4, 2021 (inception) through February 10, 2021, and to the reference to our Firm under the caption Experts in the Prospectus.
/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC |
New York, New York |
December 23, 2021 |