0001104659-21-035696.txt : 20210312 0001104659-21-035696.hdr.sgml : 20210312 20210312173102 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0001104659-21-035696 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: S-1 PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 11 FILED AS OF DATE: 20210312 FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: 1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0001849470 IRS NUMBER: 862251629 STATE OF INCORPORATION: DE FISCAL YEAR END: 1231 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: S-1 SEC ACT: 1933 Act SEC FILE NUMBER: 333-254246 FILM NUMBER: 21738718 BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: 370 HIGHLAND AVENUE CITY: PIEDMONT STATE: CA ZIP: 94611 BUSINESS PHONE: 415-515-7154 MAIL ADDRESS: STREET 1: 370 HIGHLAND AVENUE CITY: PIEDMONT STATE: CA ZIP: 94611 S-1 1 tm2192661d1_s1.htm FORM S-1
 

 

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 12, 2021.

Registration No. 333-

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM S-1

 

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware   6770   86-2251629
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  (Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number)
  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

 

370 Highland Ave.

Piedmont, CA 94611
(415) 515-7154

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

Gregor Watson
Chief Executive Officer
370 Highland Ave.
Piedmont, CA 94611
(415) 515-7154

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

Copies to:

Ari Edelman, Esq.

Tadashi Okamoto, Esq.
Reed Smith LLP
599 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10022
Tel: (212) 521-5400

 

 

Douglas S. Ellenoff, Esq.
Stuart Neuhauser, Esq.

Joshua N. Englard, Esq.
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP
1345 Avenue of the Americas, 11th Floor
New York, New York 10105
(212) 370-1300

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of the registration statement.

 

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box:

 

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering:

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering:

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering:

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer     Accelerated filer
           
Non-accelerated filer     Smaller reporting company
           
        Emerging Growth company

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered  

Amount to be

Registered(1)

 

Proposed

Maximum

Offering

Price

per Unit(1)

 

Proposed

Maximum

Aggregate

Offering

Price(1)

 

Amount of

Registration

Fee

 

Units, each consisting of one share of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, and one-third of one Warrant(2)(4)

  25,875,000   $ 10.00   $ 258,750,000   $ 28,230  

Shares of Class A common stock included as part of the Units(2)(4)

  25,875,000     -     -     - (3)
Warrants included as part of the Units(4)   8,625,000     -     -     - (3)
Total             $ 258,750,000   $ 28,230  

 

(1)Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(o). See “Underwriting.”
(2)Includes 3,375,000 units, and 3,375,000 shares of Class A common stock and 1,125,000 warrants underlying such units, which may be issued on exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriters to cover overallotments, if any.
(3)No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g).
(4)Pursuant to Rule 416, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.

 

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 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 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 prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS   (Subject to Completion) Dated March 12, 2021

 

$225,000,000

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp.

22,500,000 Units

 

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. is a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination or our business combination. We have not selected any specific 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.

 

This is an initial public offering of our securities. We are offering 22,500,000 units. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of our Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one whole share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole warrants are exercisable. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the consummation of our initial business combination or 12 months from the completion of this offering, and will expire five years after the consummation of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or our liquidation, as described in this prospectus. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. We have also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,375,000 units to cover overallotments, if any.

 

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of our Class A common stock upon the consummation of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account described below, including interest earned on the trust account (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding shares of Class A common stock that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to collectively as our public shares, subject to the limitations and conditions described in “Proposed Business - Effecting Our Initial Business Combination.” If we are unable to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering, we will redeem all 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, subject to applicable law and as further described herein.

 

1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor LLC, our sponsor, has agreed to purchase 700,000 placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit, for a purchase price of $7,000,000. Each placement unit will be identical to the units sold in this offering, except as described in this prospectus. The placement units will be sold in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. See “The Offering - Placement units and underlying securities.”

 

Our sponsor owns 6,643,750 shares of our Class B common stock (up to 843,750 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised). We refer to these shares of Class B common stock as the founder shares throughout this prospectus. The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of our board of directors for any reason. On any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, holders of our Class B common stock and holders of our Class A common stock will vote together as a single class, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rule.

 

Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A common stock or warrants. We intend to apply to list our units on the Nasdaq Capital Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “UNOOU.” We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. Subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions described in “Description of Securities – Units,” the Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Barclays Capital Inc. and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., acting as representatives of the underwriters, inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we anticipate the Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “UNOO” and “UNOOW,” respectively.

 

 

We are an “emerging growth company” under the federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 32 of this prospectus. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in offerings conducted pursuant to Rule 419 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission 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   $225,000,000 
Underwriting discount(1)  $0.55   $12,375,000 
Proceeds to us (before expenses)  $9.45   $212,625,000(2)

(1)The representatives have agreed to defer until consummation of our initial business combination $7,875,000 of its underwriting commissions (or $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), which equals 3.5% of the gross proceeds from the units sold to the public. This amount will be placed in the trust account in the United States and will be released to the representatives only on completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus. See the section titled “Underwriting” for a description of the compensation payable to the representatives.
(2)Of the gross proceeds we receive from this offering and a simultaneous private placement of units described in “Use of Proceeds,” $225,000,000 ($10.00 per share), or $258,750,000 ($10.00 per share) if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option in full, will be deposited into a trust account in the United States maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee. For a description of the trust account and the use of the funds in such account and interest generated thereby, see “Use of Proceeds” and “Proposed Business.”

 

The underwriters are offering the units on a firm commitment basis. The underwriters expect to deliver the units against payment on or about           , 2021.

 

Joint Book-Running Managers

 

Barclays   Cantor

 

The date of this prospectus is , 2021

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

    Page
Prospectus Summary   1
Risk Factors   32
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements   64
Use of Proceeds   65
Dividend Policy   69
Dilution   70
Capitalization   72
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations   73
Proposed Business   78
Management   104
Principal Stockholders   114
Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions   117
Description of Securities   120
Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations   133
Underwriting   142
Legal Matters   150
Experts   151
Where You Can Find Additional Information   152
Index to Financial Statements   F-1

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized any other person to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus. Our business, financial condition, results of operation and prospects may have changed since that date.

 

 

 

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

 

This summary provides an overview of selected information contained elsewhere in this prospectus and does not contain all of the information you should consider before investing in our securities. You should carefully read the prospectus in its entirety before investing in our securities, including the information discussed under “Risk Factors” beginning on page 32 and our financial statements and notes thereto that appear elsewhere in this prospectus. Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus, all the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their overallotment option.

 

As used in this prospectus:

 

  references to “we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to 1Sharpe Acquisition Corp.;

 

  references to “initial holders” or “initial stockholders” are to our sponsor and any other holders of our founder shares immediately prior to this offering;

 

  references to “Barclays” are to Barclays Capital Inc., one of the representatives of the underwriters of this offering;

 

  references to “Cantor Fitzgerald” are to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., one of the representatives of the underwriters of this offering;

 

  references to “founder shares” are to 6,643,750 shares of our Class B common stock held by our initial stockholders, which includes an aggregate of 843,750 founder shares that are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the overallotment option is not exercised by the underwriters;

 

  references to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our directors and officers;

 

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

 

  references to “public stockholders” refer to the holders of our public shares, which may include members of our sponsor and management team if and to the extent they purchase public shares, provided that any such holder’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

 

  references to “private placement” refer to the private placement of 700,000 units being purchased by our sponsor, which will occur simultaneously with the completion of this offering, at a purchase price of $10.00 per unit for a purchase price of $7,000,000;

 

  references to “placement units” are to the 700,000 units being purchased by our sponsor in the private placement, each placement unit consisting of one placement share and one-third of one placement warrant;

 

  references to “placement shares” are to an aggregate of 700,000 shares of our Class A common stock included within the placement units being purchased by our sponsor in the private placement; and

 

  references to “placement warrants” are to warrants to purchase an aggregate of 233,333 shares of our Class A common stock included within the placement units being purchased by our sponsor in the private placement;

 

  references to our “sponsor” and to “1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor” are to 1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company controlled by Gregor Watson, our Chief Executive Officer and Director, and Rob Bloemker, our Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director.

 

Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole warrants are exercisable. 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 exercise a whole warrant.

 

1

 

 

General

 

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation formed on February 22, 2021 for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination or our business combination.

 

To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities as well as activities related to this offering. We have not selected any specific 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 have generated no operating revenues to date, and we may not generate operating revenues even after we consummate our initial business combination.

 

While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we intend to focus on industries that complement our management team’s background, and to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a technology business related to the verticals of real estate (“PropTech”) or financial services (“FinTech”), as well as the adjacent industries that collectively contribute to the ability of people to enjoy, improve, conserve, interact, and access the world around them.

 

Our sponsor is an affiliate of 1Sharpe Capital, LLC (“1Sharpe Capital”). 1Sharpe Capital was founded in 2016 to seek exceptional investment opportunities in real estate, finance, and technology. As of December 31, 2020, 1Sharpe Capital and its affiliates have grown to manage more than $1.3 billion assets. Our sponsor believes that 1Sharpe Capital’s rapid growth has been the direct result of investor interest in our performance and confidence in our team and its approach to investing.

 

Our management team believes its experience as entrepreneurs and operators who have successfully, and repeatedly, identified, founded, built, expanded and sustained businesses of substantial enterprise value in the fields of finance, real estate, and technology, is a critical differentiator. Our management team believes these experiences will make it a desirable partner to entrepreneurs and high growth companies through every stage of their evolution from nascent idea to standard-setting market leader. In combination with many of its team members’ prior positions within institutional finance, long-only money management, and Wall Street investment banks, our management team believes 1Sharpe Capital is a bridge between Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Over time, our management team has developed deep relationships with capital sources, real estate investors and users, distribution partners, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs. Our management team often looks to this network to bring perspective and ideas beyond its own and considers it an asset of the firm that our management team maintains these relationships in earnest.

 

Our management team believes that much of its success has been the result of a culture of hard work, creativity, excellence, ethics, and vision. It believes that its success will continue to rely on the abilities of its principals and founders, Rob Bloemker and Gregor Watson, and on a growing team of top investment and operations professionals across 1Sharpe Capital and its subsidiaries.

 

Since its founding in 2016, 1Sharpe Capital and its affiliates have:

 

Invested in commercial and residential real estate backed credit assets across the United States and United Kingdom through the cultivation of proprietary origination relationships;
Secured no less than $900 million in real estate related debt capital commitments spanning asset repurchase agreements, term loans and securitization transactions;
Underwritten multifamily real estate investments across the Midwest and Southeast while building a vertically integrated property management company, Brick and Vine LLC;
Invested in early stage PropTech and FinTech businesses that 1Sharpe Capital believes to have solid prospects for growth and strategic or technological value.

 

In respective other and/or prior roles, the principals and investment professionals of 1Sharpe Capital have overseen more than $60 billion in credit assets, founded or co-founded seven businesses in real estate and financial services, exited four prior businesses, and have served on the boards of numerous companies. The businesses they founded, co-founded and/or managed have raised funding of more than $200 million.

 

2

 

 

Past performance by 1Sharpe Capital, our sponsor, our management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee either (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on their respective historical records or performance as indicative of our future performance. As described in this prospectus, Mr. Gilbert has had management experience with blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies. However, none of our officers or directors, nor our sponsor, has had management experience with blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies in the past.

 

Market Opportunity

 

We believe that the physical and digital worlds are colliding at lightning speed. We believe that this collision course is tectonic in magnitude, irreversible in nature, and wide in embrace from across all stakeholder categories of real estate, finance, and technology. In this period of unprecedented transformation, remaining at the forefront of innovation will be critical to maintaining competitiveness, whether financial or experiential. We believe that these market dynamics and the collision of the physical and digital worlds presents a tremendous opportunity to invest in technology that could define the future of the world’s largest asset class and how it interacts with everyone and everything around it.

 

     Large and Growing Addressable Market: By some measures, real estate is the largest asset class in the world. Additionally, technological investment in the sector is rapidly accelerating. According to CREtech’s data, over the four years from 2016 to 2019 more than $58 billion was invested in PropTech. According to CRETI’s data, about $23.75 billion was invested in PropTech in 2020. This total investment from 2016 to 2020 marks a meteoric rise from less than $10 billion of investments made over the 5 years from 2011 to 2015, based on data from CREtech. Throughout this wave of both increasing focus and investment, we have observed the emergence of a deep and diverse list of privately held PropTech companies that are now at or approaching unicorn valuations. We expect this number to grow substantially as PropTech investment and adoption accelerates further. Being among the largest asset classes, real estate has also attracted the attention of FinTech innovations from lending, to payments, to insurance, and beyond.

 

     Innovation and COVID-19 Acceleration: The COVID-19 pandemic has made both temporary and permanent changes to the way we live, work, entertain, and care. We believe that it has accelerated the necessity for PropTech innovations including reimagining the use and design of homes and offices, changing how we host virtual communications, streamlining asset management and operations, and facilitating digital experiences for consumers, businesses, lenders and investors alike. We believe the changes made, whether by necessity or prudence, have built enough momentum as to help many technologies reach escape velocity and to rewrite many habits of everyday life for the digital necessities, and growing preferences, of our time. We believe that these changes will undoubtedly undergo further refinement and development, but for so many reasons, we believe that there is no going back to life exactly as it was before the pandemic.

 

     Global Need: According to a report issued by the United States Environment Protection Agency, Americans, on average, spend approximately 90% of their time indoors. The full spectrum of our lives depends on the built world , and on the technology available for facilitating our access to it and enjoyment of it. In the coming decade, we expect PropTech will be instrumental to improving and solving some of the globe’s most daunting challenges, both indoors and across the outdoors, including, providing quality housing at an affordable price, achieving sustainability through greater energy efficiency, more recycling, and lower consumption, redefining the future of commercial spaces, accommodating demographic changes, and making technology more accessible.

 

Business Strategy

 

Our sponsor has experience both operating and investing across a range of business models, business environments and end markets. We intend to capitalize on our sponsor’s significant expertise within the real estate, finance, and technology sectors to identify, evaluate and acquire a stake in a compelling target, although we may pursue a business combination outside of those industries. We will seek to invest in businesses with a combination of commercial and strategic value.

 

3

 

 

We intend to focus on businesses meeting the following criteria:

 

     Large Addressable Market: We will focus on investing in a business that addresses a large market that creates the opportunity for attractive long-term growth prospects. Additionally, we will seek to find a target with products or services that have transferrable applications and extensions beyond their current uses and scalable in their economics.

 

     Competitive Positioning: We intend to focus on businesses with strong and defensible moats of positioning or technology. We believe these competitive advantages over time will lead to durable and profitable growth.

 

     Attractive Valuation: We are experienced investors with a keen understanding of fundamental and relative value. We plan to seek prospective businesses with valuations that justify strong prospects for future growth and performance, without taking undue risks.

 

     Exceptional Leadership: We intend to partner with a management team that has a well-defined vision for the company and the sector in which they operate. We intend to identify a management team with a proven track record in managing and scaling businesses. We will prioritize working with a team that is ethical, diverse, visionary, and stockholder conscious.

 

     Ability to Create Outsized Value: We believe our team’s combination of investment capabilities and best in class operating expertise in PropTech and FinTech will make a business combination with us an attractive path for target companies with prospects that extend far beyond the initial business combination. We believe it is imperative to invest in a company to whom we can add meaningful, long-term value.

 

We believe our team’s collective experience managing, acquiring and investing in technology and growth businesses is a competitive advantage in identifying attractive opportunities and in successfully completing a business combination that drives long-term value for our stockholders.

 

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC.

 

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or their respective affiliates, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or a qualified independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

Our Management Team

 

Gregor Watson has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors since our inception. Mr. Watson is a real estate technology visionary and serial entrepreneur. From his beginnings as a real estate entrepreneur, Mr. Watson has forged a track record of investing, and building businesses, ahead of the curve. He was a pioneer of single family rentals and the technology needed to make the asset class possible. Mr. Watson is a member of 1Sharpe Capital’s Investment and Operating Committees. Prior to co-founding 1Sharpe Capital, Mr. Watson co-founded Roofstock, Inc., an online marketplace for single-family rental homes backed by Khosla Ventures and Bain Capital, where he continues to serve as the Chairman. Mr. Watson is a Co-Founder of Lessen, Inc., a tech-enabled marketplace for services to institutional property owners, Zibo, Inc., a landlord-centric digital bank, and Juice, a financial platform for digital content creators. He was the founder of 643 Capital Management LLC, a real estate private equity firm that has acquired, renovated and managed thousands of homes across the United States under its operating brand, StreetLane Homes. He also co-founded Dwell Finance LLC, a lender to investors of single family homes, which originated over $500 million in loans and was sold to B2R, a unit of Blackstone. Mr. Watson spent the early part of his career investing in property throughout California. Mr. Watson is a graduate of Regis University in Denver with a BA.

 

4

 

 

Rob Bloemker has served as our Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and a member of the Board of Directors since our inception. Mr. Bloemker has over two decades of investment experience spanning real estate and public markets. Mr. Bloemker leads 1Sharpe Capital’s Investment Committee and is a member of its Operating Committee. Before co-founding 1Sharpe Capital, Mr. Bloemker spent nearly 30 years investing in bonds, loans, and real estate. Most recently he was a Portfolio Manager at Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. within their mortgage hedge fund. Prior to Cerberus, Mr. Bloemker co-founded Dwell Finance LLC, a lender to investors of single-family homes, which originated over $500 million in loans, and was sold to B2R, a unit of Blackstone, as well as Five Ten Capital LLC where he raised, invested, and successfully liquidated three private equity funds that acquired, renovated, and managed thousands of single family rental homes across the United States. He spent 12 years at Putnam Investments LLC where he was Head of Fixed Income overseeing more than $60 billion in assets and co-founded the firm’s absolute return and hedge fund strategies. Prior to that, Mr. Bloemker held senior roles within fixed income at Lehman Brothers Inc. and Salomon Brothers, Inc. He is a Co-Founder of Zibo, Inc., a landlord-centric digital bank. Mr. Bloemker received his BSBA from Washington University, in St. Louis.

 

Charles E. Haldeman Jr. will serve as the chairman of our Board of Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Haldeman currently serves on the board of trustees of JBG Smith Properties (NYSE: JBGS), a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Bethesda, Maryland. From July 2009 to June 2012, Mr. Haldeman served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, a public government-sponsored enterprise that operates in the U.S. secondary mortgage market. Mr. Haldeman joined the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation from Putnam Investments LLC, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer from November 2003 to June 2008 and Chairman from June 2008 to June 2009. Mr. Haldeman served as the Non-Executive Chairman of KCG Holdings (NYSE: KCG) from November 2013 until July 2017. Since 2012, Mr. Haldeman has served as a member of the Board of Directors of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), including as the Non-Executive Chairman since April 2015 and as a member of the Financial Policy and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. Mr. Haldeman also served as the director of DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE: DST) from November 2014 until April 2018. Mr. Haldeman received his Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College, Summa Cum Laude, a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where he graduated with high distinction as a Baker Scholar, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

 

Jacob Seid will serve as a member of our Board of Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Seid is a Member of Stonebridge Advisors A Series of Stonebridge Beta LLC. As a venture capital investor, Mr. Seid has invested extensively in companies across PropTech, FinTech and enterprise software. Previously, he was the President of Auction.com LLC (now known by the two brands Ten-X.com and Auction.com) where he built one of the largest online marketplaces across commercial and residential real estate transactions. Prior to Auction.com, he was a Managing Director at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a leading Silicon Valley venture firm. Prior to Lightspeed, Mr. Seid was with Cisco Systems Inc.’s (Ticker: CSCO) cable business unit. He was part of the team that pioneered commercialization of the now broadly used DOCSIS standard. Mr. Seid holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering and a MEng in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2009.

 

Suzanne Klahr, Esq. will serve as a member of our Board of Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Ms. Klahr founded www.BUILD.org in 1999 and served as its CEO from 1999 to 2018 taking the idea from concept to a national organization, helping underserved students and communities and working at the intersection of entrepreneurship, government and technology. In 2019, Ms. Klahr founded Mayacamas Partners, a unique consultancy that propels clients to achieve audacious goals in strategy, communication, impact and diversity. Mayacamas works with a select group of diverse clients from grass-roots organizations to multi-billion dollar public companies to unlock innovation, inspiration, and impact. This work includes helping CEOs and management teams identify which ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles are crucial to their organization, working with teams to understand the importance of these matters, and articulating the fundamental approach and process to see their goals come to fruition. Ms. Klahr is a pioneer in the field of social entrepreneurship and has taught at both Stanford and Harvard Law Schools. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law teaching both law and business school students. Ms. Klahr was inducted into the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) in 2014 and has served as a Trustee of the Skadden Fellowship Foundation and a board member at Businesses United in Investing Lending and Development (BUILD). She is a member of the Board of Advisors of Trellis: Legal Intelligence and Boundless Venture Studio. Ms. Klahr graduated with a dual degree from Brown University and has a JD from Stanford Law School.

 

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Richard J Boyle, Jr. will serve as a member of our Board of Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Boyle is a longtime operations executive turned venture capitalist who invests in real estate tech, artificial intelligence, robotics and marketplaces. Mr. Boyle is a general partner of Canaan Partners XI, LLC and Canaan Partners XII, LLC. He was the President, Chairman and CEO of LoopNet, Inc., the leading online marketplace for the commercial real estate industry. He led LoopNet through a successful IPO in 2006 and an eventual $860 million sale to CoStar Group Inc. Earlier, Mr. Boyle was the Senior Vice President of Products & Technology at Risk Management Solutions, Inc. and, immediately prior to joining Canaan, an operating partner with Khosla Ventures Associates III, LLC and Khosla Ventures Associates IV, LLC. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

 

Our Advisors

 

In addition to our management team, other members of our sponsor and/or its affiliates will be available to assist us as our advisors with a broad range of work streams related to the assessment of potential business combination targets and the implementation of value enhancing initiatives following our initial business combination. Although such individuals will not be members of our management team, they are members of our sponsor and/or its affiliates, and we anticipate that they will be available to provide functional expertise as needed. However, such individuals have no obligation to provide advice or services to us. Furthermore, such individuals will not perform board or committee functions, nor will they have any voting or decision making capacity on our behalf. They will also not be subject to the fiduciary requirements to which our board members are subject. Our advisor are as follows:

 

Fred Tuomi, our advisor, served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Invitation Homes Inc, one of the nation’s largest single-family rental company, from 2017 until his retirement in 2019. Prior to its merger with Invitation Homes Inc., Mr. Tuomi served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Starwood Waypoint Homes from 2016 until 2017. Prior to its merger with Starwood Waypoint Homes, he served as Co-President and Chief Operating Officer of Colony American Homes, Inc. from 2013 until 2016. Mr. Tuomi was the Executive Vice President and President—Property Management for Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), one of the nation’s largest multi-family REITs, from 1994 until his retirement in 2013. He led the development of Equity Residential’s property management group through years of rapid growth and expansion, while helping to pioneer its leading operational platform. Throughout his career, he has served on numerous real estate industry boards and executive committees, including the National Rental Home Council, National Multi-Housing Council, California Housing Council, California Apartment Association, Atlanta Apartment Association and the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. Mr. Tuomi has also served as a director and on the Audit and Compensation Committees of Tejon Ranch Co., a public diversified real estate development and agribusiness company. He currently serves as a Venture Partner with Real Estate Technology Ventures, and as a Director for various PropTech companies including SmartRent.com, Inc., TurboTenant Inc, and Lessen, Inc. Mr. Tuomi serves on the Board of Managers and Executive Committee of MultiGreen Properties, LLC, a multifamily company focused on the development of attainable and sustainable communities. He also serves as an advisor to various real estate investors and SFR management platforms and serves a board member for Cure Violence Global, which is dedicated to reducing violence through innovative intervention programs and ranks number 9 among the World Top 200 Best Social Good Organizations by NGO Advisor.

 

Ryan M. Gilbert, our advisor, has been the President, Chief Executive officer and director of FTAC Parnassus since December 2020 and the President, Chief Executive Officer and director of FTAC Olympus (NASDAQ: FTOC). Mr. Gilbert brings over 20 years of global financial services expertise as an entrepreneur, angel investor, venture investor, and advisor spanning payments, remittances, credit, insurance, and compliance. Since February 2016, Mr. Gilbert has been a General Partner at Propel Venture Partners, a venture capital fund backed by BBVA Group. He currently represents Propel Venture Partners on the boards of directors of Guideline, Inc., Enrollease, Inc., Steady Platform, Inc., Charlie Finance Co. and Grabango Co. Since July 2015, he has served as an independent director of bKash Limited, Bangladesh’s largest remittance and mobile banking platform. He has also served as a director of River City Bank, a $2.5 billion community bank based in Sacramento, CA, since October 2012, and as a director of The Reserve Trust Company, a non-depository Colorado chartered Trust Company, since May 2020. Before joining Propel Venture Partners, Mr. Gilbert served as Chief Executive Officer of BillFloat, Inc. (dba SmartBiz Loans), a consumer finance service company that he co-founded in September 2009. He continues to serve as SmartBiz Loans’ Executive Chairman. He was previously the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of real estate payments company PropertyBridge (acquired by MoneyGram International in 2007). Mr. Gilbert graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is a member of the State Bar of California. Mr. Gilbert currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp.

 

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Anjali Mecklai, our advisor, is the COO and CCO of 1Sharpe Capital and is a member of the Operating and Valuation Committee. Prior to 1Sharpe Capital, Ms. Mecklai held various leadership positions at LendingHome and OneWest Bank across finance, treasury, capital markets and operations. Ms. Mecklai started her career in New York at Deloitte and subsequently Deutsche Bank’s structured finance practices. Ms. Mecklai is a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles.

 

Phoebe Schreiber, our advisor, has over fifteen years of investment and operating experience, with deep experience investing in and managing single family rental homes. Ms. Schreiber is a consultant to leading single family rental investors. She co-founded and was Chief Investment Officer at Streetlane Homes LLC, a national single family rental platform with thousands of homes, and subsequently launched Roofstock, Inc.’s institutional portfolio management platform after its acquisition of Streetlane Homes. Ms. Schreiber was previously the Chief Operating Officer of 643 Capital Management Inc., where she led its single family rental investing strategy and underwriting and operations for its lending platform. She also led operations and developed proprietary underwriting and operating systems for Dwell Finance LLC, which originated over $500 million of loans and was sold to B2R, a subsidiary of Blackstone. Prior to joining 643 Capital Management Inc., Ms. Schreiber was a Director at McKinley Capital Partners where she led acquisitions and operations for its distressed housing and debt platforms. Earlier in her career, Ms. Schreiber covered the gaming and lodging sector at Ascend Capital, LLC, a long/short hedge fund, and worked in ad operations at Google, Inc. Ms. Schreiber earned a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College and is a CFA charter holder.

 

William Rueter, our advisor, is a director at 1Sharpe Capital with primary responsibilities related to the firm’s real estate private equity investments and broader research agenda. He is also active in vetting venture and incubation opportunities. Before 1Sharpe Capital, Mr. Rueter co-founded Harbor Inc., a SaaS marketing automation company targeting financial advisors and insurance brokers, and founded Nemo LLC, an investment partnership targeting multi-family assets in mid-Atlantic markets. Mr. Rueter was previously an investor at Advent International targeting private equity investments in business and financial services companies. He began his career at UBS Investment Bank. William has served on the board of Lumina Solar since 2018. He holds a B.A. from Harvard College and a Master’s from the University of Oxford.

 

Feng Wang, our advisor, is a director at 1Sharpe Capital and oversees the firm’s debt capital markets and securitization initiatives while aiding the firm’s various PropTech and Fintech related initiatives. Prior to 1Sharpe Capital, Mr. Wang was a founding executive and co-head of capital markets and risk at LendingHome, a technology enabled, nationwise originator of investor property loans and served on the Investment Committee of its private funds. Prior to LendingHome, Mr. Wang was Vice President of the mortgage investment team at Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. Mr. Wang started his career at BlackRock. Feng graduated from Cornell University with a degree in economics and mathematics.

 

Initial Business Combination

 

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the 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 of the definitive agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA, or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our stockholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion, nor will they be able to rely on it. We have also agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

 

We may, at our option, pursue a business combination opportunity jointly with one or more entities or funds affiliated with our sponsor or management team or their respective affiliates, which we refer to as an affiliated joint acquisition. Any such parties may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity-linked securities. We refer to this potential future issuance, or a similar issuance to other specified purchasers, as a “specified future issuance” throughout this prospectus.

 

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Our sponsor, officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company similar to us prior to or upon completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved.

 

Corporate Information

 

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 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 stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

 

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

 

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter; and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

 

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter, and (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter.

 

Our executive offices are located at 370 Highland Ave., Piedmont, CA 94611 and our telephone number is (415) 515-7154.

 

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The Offering

 

In making your decision on whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also, among other things, 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 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 “Risk Factors” beginning on page 32 of this prospectus.

 

Securities offered  

22,500,000 units (25,875,000 units if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

     
    •    one share of Class A common stock; and
     
    •    one-third of one redeemable warrant.
     
Proposed Nasdaq Capital Market symbols   Units: “UNOOU”
    Common Stock: “UNOO”
    Warrants: “UNOOW”
     
Trading commencement and separation of Class A common stock and warrants   We anticipate the units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Barclays and Cantor Fitzgerald, acting as 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. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent should they choose to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock 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.
     
Separate trading of the Class A common stock and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K   In no event will our Class A common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds from this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the completion of this offering, which we anticipate will take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters exercise their overallotment option following the initial filing of such Current Report, we will file a second or amended Current Report to provide updated financial information reflecting that exercise.

 

Units:    
     
Number of units outstanding before this offering   0
     
Number of placement units to be sold simultaneously with this offering   700,000(1)(2)
     
Number of units to be outstanding after this offering and the private placement   23,200,000(1)(2)

 

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Common stock:    
     
Number of shares outstanding before this offering   6,643,750 shares of Class B common stock(3)
     
Number of shares outstanding after this offering and the private placement   29,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock(4)(5)
     
Redeemable Warrants:    
     
Number of warrants outstanding before this offering   0
     
Number of warrants outstanding after this offering and the private placement   7,733,333(4)(6)
     
Exercisability   Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock and only whole warrants are exercisable.

 

(1)The representatives have agreed to defer all underwriting commissions in respect of any units sold pursuant to the underwriters’ exercise of their overallotment option and to have the amounts attributable to those commissions placed in the trust account and paid to the representatives at the closing of our initial business combination. The sponsor does not expect to purchase additional placement units if the underwriters’ exercise their overallotment option.
(2)Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option and the forfeiture by our initial stockholders of 843,750 founder shares. Our sponsor has committed to purchase, simultaneously with the completion of this offering, 700,000 placement units, each unit consisting of one placement share and one-third of one placement warrant. Holders of founder shares and placement shares will hold approximately 22.4% of the outstanding common stock following this offering and the expiration of the underwriters’ overallotment option without exercise. The placement units are not subject to forfeiture but will be subject to transfer restrictions as described in “Principal Stockholders - Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units.”
(3)Consists solely of founder shares and includes up to 843,750 founder shares that are subject to forfeiture by holders of founder shares to the extent that the overallotment option is not exercised by the underwriters.
(4)Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option and the forfeiture by our initial stockholders of 843,750 founder shares.
(5)Comprised of 22,500,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the units to be sold in this offering, 700,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the placement units to be sold in the private placement and 5,800,000 shares of Class B common stock (or founder shares). The Class B common stock is convertible into shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”
(6)Comprised of 7,500,000 public warrants included in the units to be sold in this offering and 233,333 placement warrants included in the placement units to be sold in the private placement.

 

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Exercise price   $11.50 per whole share, subject to adjustments as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial stockholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 50% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of our shares of Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we complete our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to 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 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 later of:
     
    •    30 days after the consummation of our initial business combination, or
     
    •    12 months from the completion of this offering;
     
    provided that no warrants will be exercisable for cash unless we have an effective and current registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to such shares of common stock is available, and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder.

 

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    We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable best efforts to file with the SEC, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our 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. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, 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, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable best 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 time, five years after the consummation of our initial business combination or earlier upon our failure to consummate a business combination within 24 months of completion of the offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) or redemption or our liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.

 

Redemption of warrants   Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as set forth in this prospectus with respect to the 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, or the 30-day redemption period; and
     
    •    if, and only if, the last sale price of our Class A common stock (or the closing bid price of our Class A common stock in the event the shares of Class A common stock are not traded on any specific trading day) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

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    We will not redeem the warrants unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our commercially reasonable best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by us in this offering.
     
    If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants.
     
    None of the placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.

 

Election and removal of directors; voting rights   Prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of the Class A common stock 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 the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock may remove a member of our board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended if approved by a majority of at least 90% of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rule, holders of our Class A common stock and holders of our Class B common stock will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.

 

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Founder shares   In February 2021, our sponsor purchased 6,643,750 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.0038 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of founder shares was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the aggregate of our founder shares, the placement shares and our issued and outstanding public shares after this offering (assuming our initial stockholders do not purchase any units in the offering). If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our sponsor at 20% of the aggregate of our founder shares, the placement shares and our issued and outstanding public shares after this offering. Up to 843,750 founder shares will be subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised so that founder shares represent 20% of the aggregate of our founder shares, the placement shares and our issued and outstanding public shares after this offering (assuming our initial stockholders do not purchase any units in the offering). None of our sponsor or our officers or directors intends to purchase any units in this offering.
     
    The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that:
     
    •    only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors and holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock may remove members of our board of directors for any reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination;
     
    •    the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below;

 

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    •    our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed: (1) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares, placement shares and public shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination; (2) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares, placement shares and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares or placement shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window). If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares, any placement shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,000,001, or 35.6%, of the 22,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the overallotment option is not exercised) in order to have such initial business combination approved;

 

   

•    the founder shares are shares of Class B common stock that are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described in more detail below; and

 

•    the holders of the founder shares are entitled to registration rights.

 

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Transfer restrictions on founder shares  

Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under “Principal Stockholders — Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units”). Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last reported sale price of our shares of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share consolidations, share capitalizations, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.

 

Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights   The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts sold in this offering and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock issued and outstanding upon completion of this offering, including placement shares, plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in our initial business combination and any private placement-equivalent securities issued to our sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to us. The term “equity-linked securities” refers to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Class A common stock issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt. Securities could be “deemed issued” for purposes of the conversion rate adjustment if such shares are issuable upon the conversion or exercise of convertible securities, warrants or similar securities.

 

Placement units and underlying securities   Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 700,000 placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit (for an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the completion of this offering.

 

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    The placement units are identical to the units sold in this offering except that the placement warrants, so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis, and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights.
     
    A portion of the purchase price of the placement units will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that at the time of closing of this offering, $225,000,000 (or $258,750,000 if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds from the sale of the placement units 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 placement units will expire worthless. The placement warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the placement warrants are held by holders other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.
     
Transfer restrictions on placement units   The placement units (including the underlying placement warrants, the placement shares and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders - Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units”).

 

Cashless exercise of placement warrants   If holders of placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following an initial 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 prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.

 

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Proceeds to be held in trust account   The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the placement units described in this prospectus, $225,000,000 ($10.00 per unit), or $258,750,000 ($10.00 per unit) if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full, will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and $2,500,000 will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering. The proceeds to be placed in the trust account include $7,875,000 (or up to $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions.
     
    Except for any interest income released to us to pay franchise and income taxes and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses, none of the funds held in trust will be released from the trust account until the earlier of (i) the consummation of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) subject to applicable law; or (iii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option). The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

 

Anticipated expenses and funding sources   Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account, other than interest earned on the funds held in the trust account used to pay franchise and income taxes and an amount up to $100,000 for liquidation expenses, will be available for our use for any expenses related to this offering or expenses which we may incur related to the investigation and selection of a target business and the negotiation of an agreement to acquire a target business.
     
    The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act and that invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. Based upon current interest rates, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $225,000 of interest annually (assuming an interest rate of 0.1% 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 such interest withdrawn from the trust account and:
     
    •    the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the placement units not held in the trust account, which initially will be approximately $1,300,000 in working capital (or approximately $625,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) after the payment of approximately $1,200,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and

 

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    •    any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Loans made to us by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may be convertible into units at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender at the time of the business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units.

 

Conditions to consummating our initial business combination   There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. Subject to the Nasdaq requirement that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time we sign a definitive agreement for our initial business combination, our management will have significant flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.

 

    Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We have also agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on the Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% fair market value test. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately, or through loans in connection with our initial business combination.

 

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    We anticipate structuring our initial business combination either (i) in such a way so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses, or (ii) in such a way so that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders, or for other reasons. However, we will only complete an initial business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

 

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Permitted purchases of public securities by our affiliates   If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers or their respective affiliates may purchase shares or warrants in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the consummation of our initial business combination, although as of the date of this prospectus (apart from the purchase of the placement units) they have no commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions. If they do effect such purchases, we anticipate that they would approach a limited number of large holders of our securities that have voted against the business combination or sought redemption of their securities, or that have indicated an intention to do so, and engage in direct negotiations for the purchase of such holders’ positions. All holders approached in this manner would be institutional or sophisticated holders. There is no limit on the number of securities they may acquire. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or during a restricted period under Regulation M under the Exchange Act or in transactions that would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10(b)-5 under the Exchange Act. Although they do not currently anticipate paying any premium purchase price for such public shares, there is no limit on the price they may pay. They may also enter into transactions to provide such holders with incentives to acquire shares or vote their shares in favor of an initial business combination. No funds in the trust account may be used to effect purchases of securities in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions.
     
Redemption rights for public stockholders upon consummation of our initial business combination   We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including any amounts representing deferred underwriting commissions and interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account initially will be $10.00 per public share. There will be no redemption rights upon the consummation of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. The initial holders, our officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and placement shares held by them and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination or otherwise.

 

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    We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements.
     
Manner of conducting redemptions  

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement.

 

We currently intend to conduct redemptions pursuant to a stockholder vote unless stockholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons.

 

If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

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

 

•    file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

 

Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, 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 shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

 

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    In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules), or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
     
    If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will:
     
   

•    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.

 

    We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any stockholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our Nasdaq listing or Exchange Act registration.

 

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    If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote any founder shares, placement shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. We expect that at the time of any stockholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 22.4% of our outstanding shares of common stock entitled to vote thereon. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,000,001, or 35.6%, of the 22,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the overallotment option is not exercised) in order to have such initial business combination approved. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
     
    Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination and, in any event, the terms of the proposed business combination may require our net tangible assets to be greater than $5,000,001. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or members of its management team, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the allocation of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. If the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly tendered plus the amount of any cash payments required pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceeds the aggregate amount of cash available to us, taking into consideration the requirement that we maintain net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 or such greater amount depending on the terms of our potential business combination, we will not consummate the business combination and any shares of common stock tendered pursuant to the tender offer will be returned to the holders thereof following the expiration of the tender offer.

 

Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights   We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve our initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares.

 

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Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in the offering if we hold stockholder vote   Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to an aggregate of more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination.

 

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Redemption rights in connection with proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation   Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of units into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances (other than the election of directors), our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that it may be amended by holders of a majority of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, or applicable stock exchange rules. Prior to an initial business combination, we may not issue additional securities that can vote with common stockholders on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity, on any amendment to certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or on our initial business combination, or that would entitle holders thereof to receive funds from the trust account. Our initial stockholders, who will beneficially own approximately 22.4% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they may choose. Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements as our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares.

 

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Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination   On the closing of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be used to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public stockholders upon consummation of our initial business combination,” to pay the representatives their deferred underwriting discounts, 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 we use our equity or debt securities as consideration for our initial business combination, or we do not use all of the funds released from the trust account for payment of the consideration, we may apply the excess funds for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of acquired businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in consummating the initial business combination, including any loans made to us by our sponsor or one of its affiliates as described under “- Anticipated expenses and funding sources,” to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

 

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Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination  

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will have only 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) to consummate our initial business combination. If we have not consummated a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), 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 all public shares then outstanding at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such completion window.

 

The initial holders, our officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and placement shares, as applicable, (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) or if we liquidate prior to the expiration of the 24 month period. The initial holders and our directors and officers have also agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to public shares in connection with the consummation of a business combination and in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the 24 month period. However, the initial holders and our directors and officers will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business combination within the 24 month period.

 

The representatives have agreed to waive their rights to deferred underwriting commissions held in the trust account if we do not consummate a business combination and subsequently liquidate and, in such event, the deferred underwriting commissions held in the trust account will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

 

Our initial stockholders, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules).

 

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    We will pay the costs of any liquidation from the net proceeds from this offering and the private placement held out of trust, and up to $100,000 of the interest income on the trust account (net of any taxes payable), and the balance of loans from our sponsor or one of its affiliates for working capital purposes and to pay expenses to identify an acquisition target and consummate an initial business combination, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purposes.

 

Limited payments to insiders   We will not pay any finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments to our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination, other than:
     
    •    repayment of loans of up to $300,000 from our sponsor or one of its affiliates to fund organization costs and costs of this offering, which will be repaid upon closing of this offering from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement;
     
   

•    at the closing of our initial business combination, customary advisory fees, including placement agent fees, to an affiliate of our sponsor, in amounts that constitute a market standard fee for comparable transactions and services provided;

 

•    reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and consummating an initial business combination, provided that no proceeds of this offering held in the trust account may be applied to the payment of such expenses prior to the consummation of a business combination;

 

•    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, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender at the time of the business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units sold in the private placement.

     
    Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.

 

Audit Committee   On or before the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish and maintain an audit committee, which will initially be composed of three independent directors to, among other things, monitor compliance with the terms described above and the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to immediately take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management - Committees of the Board of Directors - Audit Committee.”

 

Indemnification   Our sponsor has agreed that it will indemnify us to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or any claims by a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below $10.00 per public share, except for any claims by any third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account, regardless of whether such waiver is enforceable, and except for claims arising from our obligation to indemnify the underwriters of this offering pursuant to the underwriting agreement for this offering. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company, and, therefore, our sponsor may be unable to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations.

 

Risks

 

We have conducted no operations and have generated no revenues since our formation in February 2021. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and, at least until we consummate our initial business combination, we will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act and has certain terms and conditions that deviate from many blank check offerings. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings or to investors in many other blank check companies. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, see “Proposed Business - Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Summary of Risk Factors” within this prospectus and read this entire prospectus before investing in the units.

  

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Summary of Risk Factors

 

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section title “Risk Factors,” that represent challenges that we face in connection with the successful implementation of our strategy. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may adversely affect our ability to effect a business combination, and may have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. Such risks include, but are not limited to:

 

  newly formed company without an operating history;

  delay in receiving distributions from the trust account;

  lack of opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination;

  lack of protections afforded to investors of blank check companies;

  deviation from acquisition criteria;

  issuance of equity and/or debt securities to complete a business combination;

  lack of working capital;
  our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities;

  third-party claims reducing the per-share redemption price;

  negative interest rate for securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account;

  our stockholders being held liable for claims by third parties against us;

  failure to enforce our sponsor’s indemnification obligations;

  warrant holders limited to exercising warrants only on a “cashless basis;”

  the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company;

  dependence on key personnel;

  conflicts of interest of our sponsor, officers and directors;

  the delisting of our securities by Nasdaq;

  dependence on a single target business with a limited number of products or services;
  our underwriters’ potential conflicts of interest in rendering any additional services to us after this offering;

  our stockholders’ inability to vote or redeem their shares in connection with our extensions;

  shares being redeemed and warrants becoming worthless;

  our competitors with advantages over us in seeking business combinations;

  ability to obtain additional financing;

  our initial stockholders controlling a substantial interest in us;

  warrants adverse effect on the market price of our common stock;

  disadvantageous timing for redeeming warrants;

  registration rights’ adverse effect on the market price of our common stock;

  impact of COVID-19 and related risks;
  increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance;

  business combination with a company located in a foreign jurisdiction;

  changes in laws or regulations;

  tax consequences to business combinations; and

  exclusive forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

 

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Summary Financial Data

 

The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.

 

    March 2, 2021  
Balance Sheet Data:        
Working capital   $ 14,000  
Total assets   $ 35,000  
Total liabilities   $ 11,000  
Stockholder’s equity   $ 24,000  

 

If we do not consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), the proceeds held in the trust account, including the deferred underwriting commissions, and interest earned on the trust account (less interest released to us for the payment of taxes and up to $100,000 in interest for dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our initial holders have agreed, with respect to their founder shares and placement shares to waive their redemption rights if we fail to consummate a business combination or liquidate within such 24 month period.

 

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RISK FACTORS

 

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below and all of the other information set forth in this prospectus before deciding to invest in our units. If any of the events or developments described below occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

 

Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate,
a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks

 

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, unless such vote is required by law or Nasdaq, which means we may consummate our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.

 

We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or the rules of Nasdaq or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For example, Nasdaq rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we structure a business combination that requires us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by law or Nasdaq rules, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Accordingly, where we are not required but elect to seek stockholder approval, we may consummate our initial business combination even if majority of our public stockholders do not approve of the business combination we consummate. See “Proposed Business - Effecting Our Initial Business Combination - Stockholders may not have the ability to approve a business combination.”

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors and officers have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.

 

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any placement shares and public shares they hold in favor of our initial business combination. Holders of founder shares will own approximately 22.4% of our outstanding common stock (including 700,000 placement shares held by our sponsor) immediately following completion of this offering, assuming the underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if holders of founder shares agreed to vote their founder shares, placement shares and public shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.

 

Your ability 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, unless we seek stockholder approval of the business combination.

 

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Since our board of directors may consummate a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right to vote on the business combination unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, your ability to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights with respect to a proposed business combination.

 

The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make us unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.

 

We may 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. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires us to provide all of our stockholders with an opportunity to redeem all of their shares in connection with the consummation of any initial business combination, although our sponsor, directors and officers and each holder of placement units has agreed to waive his, her or its respective redemption rights with respect to founder shares and placement shares, and in the case of the initial holders, public shares held by him, her or it in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than the amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, or less than the $5,000,001 minimum of tangible net assets which we are required to maintain, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination. Prospective targets would be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.

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The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to consummate the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

 

At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B common stock results in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock at the time of our business combination. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.

 

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your stock.

 

If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful increases. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your stock in the open market; however, at such time our stock may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market.

 

The requirement that we complete a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to consummate a business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.

 

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option). Consequently, such target businesses may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete a business combination with it, we may be unable to identify another target business and complete a business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the end of the 24 month period. Depending upon when we identify a potential target business, we may have only a limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into a business combination on terms that we might have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.

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We may not be able to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion 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 must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option). We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate a business combination within that time period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. If we have not consummated a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering, or earlier, at the discretion of our board pursuant to the expiration of a tender offer conducted in connection with a failed business combination, 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 all public shares then outstanding at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us for the payment of taxes or dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under DGCL to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

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) pandemic.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic could continue to, and other infectious diseases could in the future, 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 company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

 

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. 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. There can be no assurance that these trends will not continue.

 

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. Furthermore, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.

 

In addition, 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 liability 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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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares of common stock from public stockholders, in which case they may influence a vote in favor of a proposed business combination that you do not support and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants.

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers or their respective affiliates may purchase shares or warrants in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the consummation of our initial business combination. Our sponsor, directors, officers and their respective affiliates may also enter into transactions with stockholders and others to provide them with incentives to, among other things, acquire shares of our common stock or vote their shares in favor of an initial business combination. Our directors, officers or their affiliates will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or during a restricted period under Regulation M under the Exchange Act or in a transaction which would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10(b)-5 under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase would include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

 

If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

 

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. Please see “Proposed Business - Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights.”

 

You will not have any rights to or interest in funds from the trust account, except under limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

 

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the consummation of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), subject to applicable law; (iii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option); or (iv) otherwise upon our liquidation or in the event our board of directors resolves to liquidate the trust account and ceases to pursue the consummation of a business combination prior to the expiration of the 24 month period (our board of directors may determine to liquidate the trust account prior to such expiration if it determines, in its business judgment, that it is improbable within the remaining time that we will be able to identify an attractive business combination or satisfy regulatory and other business and legal requirements to consummate a business combination). In addition, if our plan to redeem our public shares if we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the date of this offering is not consummated for any reason, Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond 24 months before they receive funds from our trust account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any rights to the proceeds from our trust account with respect to their warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

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You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.

 

Since we intend to use the net proceeds of this offering and the private placement to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5.0 million upon the completion of this offering and the private placement 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 under the Securities Act. 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 a business combination than would companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, offerings subject to Rule 419 would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us, except in connection with our consummation of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see “Proposed Business - Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”

 

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, you may receive only $10.00 per share from our redemption of your shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, 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 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 and the private placement, 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, because we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of Class A common stock which our public stockholders redeem in connection with our initial business combination, target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share from our redemption of our shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

If the net proceeds of this offering and the private placement not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor to fund our search for an initial business combination, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination.

 

Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the placement units, only $1,300,000 (or $625,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,200,000, 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 $1,200,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. None of our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “- If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors in this section.

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Subsequent to consummation 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 our stock price, 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 examination will uncover all material risks that may be presented by a particular target business, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies the principal risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. As a result, from time to time following our initial business combination, we may be forced to write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any securityholders who choose to remain securityholders following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such securityholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the initial business combination constituted an actionable material misstatement or omission.

 

If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

 

Placing 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 or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements or, even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, claims for fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving 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 without a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any available alternative. If we do not obtain a waiver from a third party, we will obtain the written consent of our sponsor before entering into an agreement with such third party.

 

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 management believes to be significantly superior to those of other consultants who would execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver and where our sponsor executes a written consent. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete a business combination within the required time frame, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with a business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the trust account due to claims of such creditors. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below $10.00 per share except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, if an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Our sponsor may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations, and therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

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Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.

 

If proceeds in the trust account are reduced below $10.00 per public share 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 their indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

 

We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers.

 

We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

 

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.

 

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, by making distributions to public stockholders before making provision for creditors, 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 for punitive damages.

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If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

 

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

 

Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.

 

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24th month if we do not consummate an initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures.

 

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers or investment bankers) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares if we do not consummate our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution.

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We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate a business combination.

 

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate a business combination (unless required by Nasdaq), and thus may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires that an annual meeting of stockholders be held for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with a company’s bylaws unless directors are elected by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of a business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL. Even if an annual meeting was held for the purpose of electing directors prior to the consummation of a business combination, only holders of Class B common stock would be entitled to notice of such meeting and to vote at such meeting.

 

Because we have not selected a particular business within the PropTech or FinTech industry or any other industry or any specific target businesses with which to pursue a business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’ operations.

 

We will seek to consummate a business combination with an operating company in the PropTech or FinTech industry, but may also pursue acquisition opportunities in other business sectors or geographic regions, except that we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet identified or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, you have no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. If we consummate our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations of the entity with which we combine. Because we will seek to acquire businesses that potentially need financial, operational, strategic or managerial redirection, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially or operationally unstable 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. Accordingly, any securityholders who choose to remain securityholders following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. 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 an acquisition target.

 

We may seek investment opportunities in sectors outside of our industry focus (which may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise).

 

Although we currently intend to consummate a business combination in the PropTech or FinTech industry, we will consider a business combination outside this industry if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive investment opportunity for our company. If we elect to pursue an investment outside of the PropTech or FinTech industry, our management’s expertise in that industry would not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained herein regarding such industries might not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire.

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Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into a 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 specific criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into a business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we consummate a 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. 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 an initial business combination candidate. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or Nasdaq, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to obtain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share on our redemption, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel.

 

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

 

We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm and, consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the target in our initial business combination is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view.

 

Unless we consummate our initial business combination with an affiliated entity or our board cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that the price we are paying is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. If we do not obtain an opinion, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

 

If we hold a stockholder vote and must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.

 

If we hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination, 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. If we make a tender offer for our public shares, we will include the same financial statement disclosure in our tender offer documents that is required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements must be prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements must be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or 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 consummate our initial business combination within our 24 month time frame.

 

The requirement that we maintain a minimum net worth or retain a certain amount of cash could increase the probability that we will be unable to complete a proposed business combination and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your stock.

 

If, pursuant to the terms of our proposed business combination, we are required to maintain a minimum net worth or retain a certain amount of cash in trust in order to consummate the business combination, the ability of our public stockholders to cause us to redeem their shares in connection with such proposed transaction will increase the risk that we will not meet that condition and, accordingly, that we will not be able to complete the proposed transaction. If we do not complete a proposed business combination, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market. If you were to attempt to sell your stock in the open market at that time, the price you receive could represent a discount to the pro rata amount in our 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.

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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.

 

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we maintain a system of internal controls and, beginning with our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022, that we evaluate and report on such system of internal controls. In addition, once we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” we must have our system of internal controls audited. 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 company with which we seek to complete a 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 controls of any such entity in order to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

 

We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold will make it easier for us to consummate a business combination with which a substantial number of our stockholders do not agree.

 

We may be able to consummate a business combination even though a substantial number of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, if our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates have entered into privately negotiated agreements with public stockholders to acquire public shares. However, 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 upon consummation of our initial business combination, and the amount that we redeem may be further limited by the terms and conditions of our initial business combination. In such case, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares and the related initial business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.

 

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our stockholders may not support.

 

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 65% of the public warrants. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires us to provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any 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.

 

We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.

 

When evaluating the desirability of effecting a business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’ management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we expected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted.

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The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), including an amendment to permit us to withdraw funds from the trust account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any redemption or liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated, may be amended with the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-initial business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein and including to permit us to withdraw funds from the trust account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any redemption or liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. We may not issue additional securities that can vote with common stockholders on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity, on any amendment to certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or on our initial business combination. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own up to 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-initial business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete an initial business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

 

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our sponsor, officers and directors. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.

 

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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share on our redemption.

 

Because of the expected size of our initial business combination, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination, or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We may be unable to obtain any necessary financing on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment has made it especially difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to consummate our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure or abandon the transaction and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share on our redemption. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to consummate our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us after a business combination.

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Our initial stockholders will control the election of our board of directors until consummation of our initial business combination and will hold a substantial interest in us. As a result, they will elect all of our directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination and may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

 

Upon the closing of this offering, our initial stockholders will own approximately 22.4% of our outstanding common stock, including placement shares (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). In addition, the founder shares, all of which are held by our initial stockholders, will entitle the holders to elect all of our directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will have no right to vote on the election of directors during such time. Furthermore, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of our board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended by a majority of at least 90% of the outstanding shares of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting. As a result, you will not have any influence over the election of directors prior to our initial business combination.

 

Neither our initial stockholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, as a result of their substantial ownership in our company, our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on other actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their influence over these actions. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will exert significant influence over actions requiring a stockholder vote.

 

Holders of founder shares and purchasers of placement units will control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

 

Upon completion of this offering, holders of founder shares and purchasers of placement units will own approximately 22.4% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (approximately 22.1% if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option in full). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Holders of founder shares are not restricted from purchasing Class A common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, which would increase their control. The holders of founder shares do not 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 common stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsor, is divided into two classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a two-year term. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office at least until the consummation of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our sponsor, because of its ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, you should anticipate that holders of founder shares and purchasers of placement units will continue to exert control at least until the consummation of our initial business combination.

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Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not consummated, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate another target business and consummate our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share from our redemption of our shares and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting, and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents, and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to consummate 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 due to a reduction in the funds available for expenses for relating to such efforts. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share from our redemption of their shares and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with our initial business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and, as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination would be advantageous to us.

 

Our key personnel may decide to remain with the company after the consummation 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 consummation of our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business and cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination would be advantageous to us. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

 

We may attempt to consummate business combinations with multiple prospective targets simultaneously, which may hinder our ability to consummate an initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.

 

If we determine to acquire several businesses simultaneously that are owned by different sellers, we will need each seller 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 the initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, we may be unable to operate the combined business successfully, and you could lose some or all of your investment in us.

 

We may attempt to consummate 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 expected, or 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 may exist 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 the information developed during our due diligence examination, which may be limited. As a result, we could acquire a company that is not as profitable as we expected, or at all. Furthermore, the relative lack of information about a private company may hinder our ability to properly assess the value of such a company which could result in our overpaying for that company.

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As the number of special purpose acquisition companies increases, there may be more competition to find an attractive target for an initial business combination. This could increase the costs associated with completing our initial business combination and may result in our inability to find a suitable target for our initial business combination.

 

In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many companies have entered into business combinations with special purpose acquisition companies, but there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many additional special purpose acquisition companies currently in the process of conducting their initial public offering. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, effort and resources to identify a suitable target for an initial business combination.

 

In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause 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 a suitable target for and/or complete our initial business combination.

 

If we effect our initial business combination with a business located outside of the United States, the laws applicable to such business will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.

 

If we effect our initial business combination with a business located outside of the United States, the laws of the country in which such business operates will govern almost all of the material agreements relating to its operations. The target business may not be able to enforce any of its material agreements or enforce remedies for breaches of those agreements in that jurisdiction. 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. Additionally, if we acquire a business located outside of the United States, it is likely that substantially all of our assets would be located outside of the United States and some of our officers and directors might reside outside of the United States. As a result, it may not be possible for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States’ courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties of our directors and officers under federal securities laws.

 

If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.

 

If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.

 

If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

 

If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:

 

  costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations;

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  rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

 

  complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

 

  laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;

 

  exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;

 

  tariffs and trade barriers;

 

  regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

 

  local or regional economic policies and market conditions;

 

  unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;

 

  challenges in managing and staffing international operations;

 

  longer payment cycles;

 

  tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;

 

  currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

 

  rates of inflation;

 

  challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

 

  cultural and language differences;

 

  employment regulations;

 

  underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;

 

  corruption;

 

  protection of intellectual property;

 

  social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;

 

  regime changes and political upheaval;

 

  terrorist attacks and wars; and

 

  deterioration of political relations with the United States.

 

We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We may not maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.

 

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination to acquire 100% of the equity interest or assets of the target business or businesses. However, we may structure our initial business combination to acquire less than 100% of the equity interest or assets of the target business, but only if we (or any entity that is a successor to us in a business combination) acquire a majority of the outstanding voting securities or assets of the target. Even if we own a majority interest in the target, our stockholders prior to the 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. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that we will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.

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We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our financial condition and the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.

 

Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or otherwise to incur debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt in order to complete our initial business combination. 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 meet our debt service obligations;

 

  acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness, even if we make all principal and interest payments when due, if we breach covenants that require the maintenance of 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 and the lender demands payment;

 

  our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if any debt we incur contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain additional financing while the debt is outstanding;

 

  prohibitions of, or limitations on, our ability to pay dividends on our common stock;

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

  limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of growth strategies and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

 

We do not have a policy with respect to how much debt we may incur. To the extent that the amount of our debt increases, the impact of the effects listed above may also increase.

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We may complete a business combination with only one business, which would result in our success being dependent solely on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may harm our operations and profitability.

 

We are not limited as to the number of businesses we may acquire in our initial business combination. However, we may effectuate a business combination with only one target business because of various factors, including the limited amount of the net proceeds of this offering, 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 consummating an initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks particular to the industry area in which the acquired business operates. 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:

 

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

 

  depend 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.

 

The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon consummation of a business combination. The loss of an acquisition target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

 

The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the consummation of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with us following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of an acquisition target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

 

We may partner, submit a joint bid or enter into a similar transaction with holders of founder shares or an affiliate in connection with our pursuit of, or in connection with, a business combination.

 

We are not prohibited from partnering, submitting a joint bid or entering into any similar transaction with holders of founder shares or their affiliates in our pursuit of a business combination. Although we currently have no plans to do so, we could pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business - Effecting our initial business combination - Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination” and the transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm regarding the fairness to our stockholders from a financial point of view of a business combination with any holder of founder shares or its affiliates, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest. Additionally, were we successful in consummating such a transaction, conflicts could invariably arise from the interest of the holder of founder shares or its affiliate in maximizing its returns, which may be at odds with the strategy of the post-business combination company or not in the best interests of the public stockholders of the post-business combination company. Any or all of such conflicts could materially reduce the value of your investment, whether before or after 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 underwriting commissions that will be released from the trust account only upon a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after 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 transactions. We may pay such underwriters or their affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s 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 underwriting commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. 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.

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A failure to comply with privacy regulations could adversely affect relations with customers and have a negative impact on business.

 

Depending upon the type of business we acquire, in the course of providing services to our customers we may collect, process and retain sensitive and confidential information on our customers and their clients. A failure of our systems due to security breaches, acts of vandalism, computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming and/or human errors, or other causes could result in the misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized disclosure of confidential customer information. Any such failure could result in damage to our reputation with our customers, expose us to the risk of litigation and liability, disrupt our operations, and impair our ability to operate profitably.

 

We may not be able to protect a target’s intellectual property and we may be subject to infringement claims.

 

We expect to rely on a combination of contractual rights and copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws to establish and protect any proprietary technology of a target business. Although we intend to protect vigorously any intellectual property we acquire, third parties may infringe or misappropriate our intellectual property or may develop competitive technology. Our competitors may independently develop similar technology, duplicate our products or services or design around our intellectual property rights. We may have to litigate to enforce and protect our intellectual property rights, trade secrets and know-how or to determine their scope, validity or enforceability, which is expensive, could cause a diversion of resources and may not prove successful. The loss of intellectual property protection or the inability to secure or enforce intellectual property protection could harm our business and ability to compete.

 

We also may be subject to claims by third parties for infringement of another party’s proprietary rights, or for breach of copyright, trademark or license usage rights. Any such claims and any resulting litigation could subject us to significant liability for damages. An adverse determination in any litigation of this type could require us to design around a third party’s intellectual property, obtain a license for that technology or license alternative technology from another party. None of these alternatives may be available to us at a price which would allow us to operate profitably. In addition, litigation is time consuming and expensive to defend and could result in the diversion of the time and attention of management and employees. Any claims from third parties may also result in limitations on our ability to use the intellectual property subject to these claims.

 

Risks Relating to our Sponsor and Management Team

 

We are dependent upon our officers and directors; the loss of any one or more of them could adversely affect our ability to complete a business combination.

 

Our operations depend upon the background, experience and contacts of our officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have consummated a business combination. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. In addition, 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 the search for a business combination and their other business commitments. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the consummation of our business combination. Each of our officers and directors is engaged in other business endeavors and is not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. If our officers’ and directors’ other business commitments require them to devote substantial amounts of time in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which make it more difficult for us to identify an acquisition target and consummate our business combination. For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Management - Directors and Officers.”

 

Our success following our initial business combination likely will depend upon the efforts of management of the target business. The loss of any of the key personnel of the target’s management team could make it more difficult to operate the target profitably.

 

Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following a business combination, we can offer no assurance that any will do so. Moreover, as a result of the existing commitments of our key personnel, it is likely that we will retain some or all of the management of the target business to conduct its operations. The departure of any key members of the target’s management team could thus make it more difficult to operate the post-combination business profitably. Moreover, to the extent that we will rely upon the target’s management team to operate the post-combination business, we will be subject to risks regarding their managerial competence. While we intend to closely scrutinize the skills, abilities and qualifications of any individuals we retain after a business combination, our ability to do so may be limited due to a lack of time resources or information. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct and that they will have the skills, abilities and qualifications we expect.

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Since holders of our founder shares and placement units will lose some or all of their investment in us if we do not consummate a business combination, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular acquisition target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

 

Our initial holders currently own 6,643,750 founder shares, which will be worthless if we do not consummate our initial business combination. Our sponsor has committed to purchase 700,000 placement units for an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to the founder shares, placement shares or placement warrants, which will expire worthless if we do not consummate a business combination within the allotted 24 month period. If we do not consummate a business combination, our sponsor will realize a loss on the placement units it purchased. As a result, the personal and financial interests of certain of our officers and directors, directly or as members of our sponsor, in consummating an initial business combination, along with their flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition candidate, may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination and completing an initial business combination that is not in the best interests of our stockholders. Consequently, the discretion of our officers and directors, in identifying and selecting a suitable target business combination may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular initial business combination are appropriate and in the best interest of our public stockholders.

 

Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and 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. Our sponsor, officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company similar to us prior to or upon completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved. Although we have no formal policy in place for vetting potential conflicts of interest, our board of directors will review any potential conflicts of interest on a case-by-case basis.

 

Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain a waiver of the corporate opportunity doctrine, which will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless (i) such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company (ii) such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue and (iii) the director or officer is permitted to refer the opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. The purpose for the surrender of corporate opportunities is to allow officers, directors or other representatives with multiple business affiliations to continue to serve as an officer of our company or on our board of directors. Our officers and directors may from time to time be presented with opportunities that could benefit both another business affiliation and us. In the absence of the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our charter, certain candidates would not be able to serve as an officer or director. We believe we substantially benefit from having representatives, who bring significant, relevant and valuable experience to our management, and, as a result, the inclusion of the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides us with greater flexibility to attract and retain the officers and directors that we feel are the best candidates.

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However, 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. The different timelines of competing business combinations could cause our directors and officers to prioritize a different business combination over finding a suitable acquisition target for our business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest, which could negatively impact the timing for a business combination.

 

For a discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see the sections of this prospectus entitled “Management - Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

 

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 or its affiliates, officers, directors or existing stockholders, which may raise potential conflicts of interest.

 

We may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, holders of founder shares, or our officers and directors. Our officers and directors also serve as officers and board members of other entities, including a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. The holders of founder shares and our officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to consummate a business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that the targeted affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business - Effecting our initial business combination - Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination” and the transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm regarding the fairness to our stockholders from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more businesses affiliated with our officers, directors or holders of founder shares, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

 

Risks Relating to our Securities

 

The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

 

The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

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If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.

 

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:

 

  restrictions on the nature of our investments; and

 

  restrictions on the issuance of securities;

 

each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.

 

In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:

 

  registration as an investment company with the SEC;

 

  adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

 

  reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and compliance with other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to.

 

In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete an initial business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.

 

We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our primary business objective, which is a business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window; and (iii) absent a business combination, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to consummate our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. Please see “- If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.

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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, a stockholder, or a “group” of stockholders, who are deemed to hold an aggregate of more than 15% of our common stock may not redeem any shares they hold that exceed such 15% amount.

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to shares in excess of 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior written consent. We refer to such shares in excess of 15% or more of the shares sold in the offering as “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem any Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to consummate a 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 consummate our business combination. As a result, you would continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell them in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

 

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.

 

Although we have applied to have our securities listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, as of the date of this prospectus there is no market for our securities. Prospective stockholders therefore have no access to information about prior trading 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, general market and economic conditions and forecasts, our general business condition and the release of our financial reports. Once listed on Nasdaq, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market for such securities can be established or sustained.

 

Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading 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 Nasdaq. We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Following the date the shares of our Class A common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our Class A common stock and warrants will be separately listed on Nasdaq. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. 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 Nasdaq listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5.0 million and we would be required to have a minimum of 300 round lot holders (with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500) of our securities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

 

If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board or the “pink sheets.” If this were to occur, there could be material adverse consequences, including:

 

  a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

  reduced liquidity for our securities;

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  a determination that our Class A common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;

 

  a limited amount of, or no, news and analyst coverage; and

 

  a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

 

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq, we expect that our units, Class A common stock and warrants will be covered securities. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state, other than the state of Idaho, having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on Nasdaq, our securities would not be covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.

 

Purchases of Class A common stock in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions by our sponsor, directors, officers or their affiliates may make it difficult for us to continue to list our common stock on Nasdaq or another national securities exchange.

 

If our sponsor, directors, officers or their affiliates purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, it would reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock and the number of beneficial holders of our common stock, which may make it difficult to maintain the listing or trading of our common stock on a national securities exchange if we determine to apply for such listing in connection with the business combination. If the number of our public holders falls below 300 or if the total number of shares held by non-affiliates is less than 500,000, we will be non-compliant with Nasdaq’s continued listing rules and our common stock could be de-listed. If our common stock were de-listed, we could face the material consequences set forth in the immediately preceding risk factor.

 

Our initial holders paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.0038 per founder share and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our units including shares of our Class A common stock.

 

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A common stock and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. The initial holders acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon completion of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 93.5%, or $9.35 per share (the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.65 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit). This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the shares of Class B common stock result in the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the shares of Class B common stock at the time of our initial business combination and would become exacerbated to the extent that public stockholders seek redemptions from the trust. 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 common stock.

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We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions described herein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 115,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 15,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 84,066,667 and 9,200,000 (assuming in each case, that the underwriters have not exercised their overallotment option) authorized but unissued shares of Class A and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance, which amount takes into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants but not upon the conversion of the Class B common stock. Shares of Class B common stock are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. Immediately after this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.

 

We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common stock, and may issue shares of preferred stock, in order to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination (although our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may not issue additional securities that can vote with common stockholders on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity, on any amendment to certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or on our initial business combination, or that would entitle holders thereof to receive funds from the trust account). We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions described herein. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote on any initial business combination.

 

The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:

 

  may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering;

 

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

 

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

 

  may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, common stock and/or warrants.

 

We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless.

 

We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration under the Securities Act of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our commercially reasonable best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, 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, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and there is no exemption available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the units. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our commercially reasonable best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by us in this offering. However, there may be instances in which holders of our public warrants may be unable to exercise such public warrants but holders of our placement warrants may be able to exercise such placement warrants.

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If you exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis,” you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.

 

There are circumstances in which the exercise of the public warrants may be required or permitted to be made on a cashless basis. First, if a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrantholders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Second, if our Class A common stock is at any time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, 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, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. Third, if we call the public warrants for redemption, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis. In the event of an exercise on a cashless basis, a holder would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (as defined in the next sentence) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” is the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, as applicable. As a result, you would receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.

 

The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and purchasers of placement units may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may reduce the market price of our Class A common stock.

 

Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the initial stockholders and their permitted transferees and purchasers of placement units can demand that we register the founder shares, placement shares, placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the placement warrants. This would include the 6,643,750 founder shares, 700,000 placement shares and 233,333 placement warrants. These registration rights will be exercisable at any time commencing upon the date that such shares are released from transfer restrictions (as discussed under “Principal Stockholders - Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units”). We will also grant registration rights to our sponsor or one of its affiliates in connection with the issuance of any working capital warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may reduce the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the securities owned by our initial stockholders or their permitted transferees are registered.

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We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants.

 

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 to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

 

We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.

 

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants (excluding any placement warrants held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees) at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price (or the closing bid price of our Class A common stock in the event the shares of our Class A common stock are not traded on any specific trading day) of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send proper notice of such redemption, provided that on the date we give notice of redemption and during the entire period thereafter until the time we redeem the warrants, we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available. 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. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you: (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.

 

Our warrants and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination.

 

In this offering, we will be issuing warrants to purchase 7,500,000 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 8,625,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) as part of the public units. In addition, on the closing date of this offering, we will sell 700,000 placement units to our sponsor, with each unit consisting of one placement share and one-third of one placement warrant, each whole warrant exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock. Prior to this offering, we issued an aggregate of 6,643,750 founder shares in a private placement. The founder shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor or its affiliates makes any working capital loans, such loans may be converted into units, at the price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. Such units would be identical to the placement units.

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To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants and conversion rights could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and reduce the value of the shares of Class A common stock issued to complete the business combination. Therefore, our warrants and founder shares may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.

 

The placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis, and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights.

 

Because each unit contains one-third of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.

 

Each unit contains one-third of one warrant. Because, pursuant to the warrant agreement, the warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares, only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.

 

A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.

 

Unlike most blank check companies, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by us and in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial stockholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 50% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of our shares of Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we complete 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 adjacent to “Description of Securities -Warrants - Public Warrants” 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 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 representatives of the underwriters 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 common stock and warrants underlying the units, include:

 

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

 

  prior offerings of those companies;

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  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.

 

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our common stock and could entrench management.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities. We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

 

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 share of Class A common stock and the one-third warrant included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or the courts. In addition, if we are determined to be a personal holding company for U.S. federal income tax purposes, our taxable income would be subjected to an additional 20% federal income tax, which would reduce the net after-tax amount of interest income earned on the funds placed in our trust account. Furthermore, the United States federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant is unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our shares of common stock suspend the running of a U.S. holder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A common stock is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividends” for federal income tax purposes. See the section titled “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” for a summary of the principal United States federal income tax consequences 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.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel, which may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

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This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

 

General Risk Factors

 

We are a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenue and, accordingly, you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

 

We are a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenue. We will not commence operations until we obtain funding through this offering and consummate our initial business combination. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of acquiring one or more operating businesses in the PropTech or FinTech industry. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete a business combination. If we fail to complete a business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

 

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.

 

We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments, including in particular, reporting and other requirements under the Exchange Act. 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 result in fines, injunctive relief or similar remedies which could be costly to us or limit our ability to complete an initial business combination or operate the post-combination company successfully.

 

Past performance by 1Sharpe Capital, our sponsor, our management team and their respective affiliates, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company.

 

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with 1Sharpe Capital, our sponsor, our management team and their respective affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by 1Sharpe Capital, our sponsor, our management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee either (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of 1Sharpe Capital, our sponsor or our management team’s performance or the performance of their respective affiliates as indicative of our future performance or of an investment in the company or the returns the company will, or is likely to, generate going forward. As described in this prospectus, Mr. Gilbert has had management experience with blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies. However, none of our officers or directors, nor our sponsor, has had management experience with blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies in the past. Furthermore, an investment in us is not an investment in 1Sharpe Capital or any fund of 1Sharpe Capital.

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The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources and divert management’s attention.

 

As a public company, we will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (which we refer to as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (which we refer to as the Dodd-Frank Act), the listing requirements of Nasdaq and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight may be required. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could adversely affect our business and operating results. We may need to hire more employees in the future or engage outside consultants to comply with these requirements, which will increase our costs and expenses.

 

In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be adversely affected.

 

However, for as long as we remain an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirement of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We may take advantage of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer an “emerging growth company.”

 

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 shares of common stock 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 during the prior three year period.

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We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.

 

We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates 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 common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter, and (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

Statements contained in this prospectus that reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance, and any other statements of a future or forward-looking nature, constitute “forward-looking statements” for the purposes of federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would,” “will,” “approximately,” “shall” 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:

 

  the ability of our officers and directors to generate potential investment opportunities;

 

  our ability to complete our initial business combination;

 

  our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

 

  the allocation by our officers and directors of their time to other businesses and their potential 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;

 

  the pool of prospective target businesses;

 

  the listing on, or the delisting of our securities from, Nasdaq or our ability to have our securities listed on Nasdaq or another national securities exchange following our initial business combination;

 

  potential changes in control if we acquire one or more target businesses for stock;

 

  the potential liquidity and trading of the securities we will issue in this offering;

 

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

 

  our financial performance 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. We cannot assure you that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

 

We are offering 22,500,000 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 placement units (of which $225,000,000 will be deposited into the trust account) will be used as set forth in the following table.

 

    Without
Overallotment
Option
    Overallotment
Option Exercised
in Full
 
Gross proceeds            
Proceeds from units offered to the public   $ 225,000,000     $ 258,750,000  
Proceeds from private placement     7,000,000       7,000,000  
Total gross proceeds     232,000,000       265,750,000  
Estimated offering expenses(1)                
Underwriting commissions (2.0% of gross proceeds from firm units offered to public)(2)     4,500,000       5,175,000  
Legal fees and expenses     250,000       250,000  
Printing and engraving expenses     40,000       40,000  
Accounting fees and expenses     45,000       45,000  
SEC fees     28,230       28,230  
FINRA fees     39,313       39,313  
Nasdaq Capital Market Listing Fees     75,000       75,000  
Travel and roadshow     20,000       20,000  
D&O Insurance     650,000       650,000  
Miscellaneous expenses     52,457       52,457  
Total offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions)     1,200,000       1,200,000  
Proceeds after offering expenses     226,300,000       259,375,000  
Held in trust account   $ 225,000,000     $ 258,750,000  
% of public offering proceeds held in trust(3)     100.0 %     100.0 %
Held outside trust account   $ 1,300,000     $ 625,000  

 

The following table shows the use of the net proceeds of this offering and the private placement held out of the trust account.(4)

 

    Amount     Percentage  
Use of net proceeds not held in trust and working capital loans from our sponsor(4)                
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, consulting and other expenses in connection with any business combination(5)   $ 850,000       65.38 %
Legal and accounting fees relating to SEC reporting obligations     200,000       15.38 %
Reserve for liquidation expenses     100,000       7.69 %
Nasdaq continued listing fees     75,000       5.77 %
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses     75,000       5.77 %
Total   $ 1,300,000       100.00 %

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(1)As of the date of this prospectus we have not borrowed any amounts under loans and advances available to us by our sponsor. Loans by our sponsor will be repaid upon the earlier of the completion of this offering or December 31, 2021. If offering expenses actually paid are less than the estimates set forth in this table, the balance will be used for post-closing working capital.
(2)The representatives have agreed to defer until consummation of our initial business combination $7,875,000 of their underwriting commissions (or $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), which equals 3.5% of the gross proceeds from the units sold to the public. Upon consummation of our initial business combination, the deferred commissions will be paid to the representatives from the funds held in the trust account, and the remaining funds 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.
(3)$225,000,000 from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement ($258,750,000 if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option in full), including deferred underwriting commissions of $7,875,000 ($9,056,250 if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option in full), will be placed in a trust account held at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., located in the United States, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.
(4)These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring a business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. If we identify an acquisition target in a specific industry subject to industry specific regulation, 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. Additionally, if the underwriter exercises the over-allotment option, the 2% current underwriting fee would be paid from this amount. 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.
(5)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.

 

A total of $225,000,000 (or $258,750,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) of the aggregate net proceeds from this offering and the private placement, including $7,875,000 (or $9,056,250 if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option in full) of the deferred underwriting discount, will be placed in a trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Except for interest income released to us for the payment of taxes or dissolution expenses, none of the funds held in the trust account will be released, subject to the requirements of law, until the earlier of (i) the consummation of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), subject to applicable law; (iii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option); or (iv) otherwise upon our liquidation or if our board of directors resolves to liquidate the trust account and ceases to pursue the consummation of a business combination prior to the expiration of the 24 month period (our board of directors may determine to liquidate the trust account prior to such expiration if it determines, in its business judgment, that it is improbable within the remaining time to identify an attractive business combination or satisfy regulatory and other business and legal requirements to consummate a business combination). Based on current interest rates, we estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $225,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.1% per year.

 

The net proceeds held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting commissions) may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete a business combination. If we pay for our initial business combination using stock or debt securities, or if we do not use all of the funds released from the trust account for payment of the purchase price in connection with our business combination, we may use the remaining cash released from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of the operations of acquired businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in consummating the initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

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We believe that the net proceeds from this offering and the private placement held out of trust will be sufficient to pay our costs and expenses prior to our initial business combination. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. In this event, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from members of our management team, but such members of our management team are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.

 

1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor LLC has committed to loan us up to an aggregate of $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering, of which no amounts have been loaned as of the date of this prospectus. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the completion of this offering.

 

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 would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would 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. Such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the 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. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers or their respective affiliates may purchase shares in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the consummation of our initial business combination, although as of the date of this prospectus (apart from the purchase of the placement units) they have no commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions. If they do effect such purchases, we anticipate that they would approach a limited number of large holders of our securities that have voted against the business combination or sought redemption of their shares, or that have indicated an intention to do so, and engage in direct negotiations for the purchase of such holders’ positions. All holders approached in this manner would be institutional or sophisticated holders. There is no limit on the number of shares they may acquire. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or during a restricted period under Regulation M under the Exchange Act or in transactions that would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10(b)-5 under the Exchange Act. Although they do not currently anticipate paying any premium purchase price for such public shares, there is no limit on the price they may pay. They may also enter into transactions to provide such holders with incentives to acquire shares or vote their shares in favor of an initial business combination. No funds in the trust account may be used to effect purchases of shares in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions.

 

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 upon consummation of our initial business combination. Moreover, the redemption threshold may be further limited by the terms and conditions of our initial business combination. If the amount of redemptions plus any cash required by our initial business combination would cause our net tangible assets to fall below $5,000,001, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.

 

A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the consummation of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), subject to applicable law; (iii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option); or (iv) otherwise upon our liquidation or in the event our board of directors resolves to liquidate the trust account and ceases to pursue the consummation of a business combination prior to the expiration of the 24 month period (our board of directors may determine to liquidate the trust account prior to such expiration if it determines, in its business judgment, that it is improbable within the remaining time that we will be able to identify an attractive acquisition target or satisfy regulatory and other business and legal requirements to consummate a business combination). In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

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The initial holders, our officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and placement shares, as applicable, (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) or if we liquidate prior to the expiration of the 24 month period. The initial holders and our directors and officers have also agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to public shares in connection with the consummation of a business combination and in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the 24 month period. However, the initial holders and our directors and officers will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business combination or liquidate within the 24 month period.

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DIVIDEND POLICY

 

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends before we complete our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will depend upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of an initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to an initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, in which case we may effect a stock dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in an amount such that founder shares will remain equal to 25.0% of the aggregate of our public shares, placement shares and the founder shares. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with a business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants imposed by the debt instruments.

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DILUTION

 

The difference between the public offering price per share of common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the warrants contained in the placement units, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public stockholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of common stock which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding shares of our common stock.

 

At March 2, 2021, our net tangible book value was $14,000, or approximately $0.00 per share of common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 22,500,000 shares of common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 25,875,000 shares of common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the placement units and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at March 2, 2021, would have been $5,000,010 or $0.65 per share (or $0.58 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 the approximately 21,344,899 shares of common stock that may be redeemed for cash assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option, or 24,534,274 shares of common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $0.65 per share (or $0.58 per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) to the initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution of $9.35 per share or 93.5% (or $9.42 per share or 94.2% if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our public stockholders not exercising their redemption rights.

 

The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the placement warrants:

 

For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) by $213,448,990 because holders of up to 94.9% 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 days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholders meeting, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us for the payment of taxes or dissolution expenses), divided by the number of shares of common stock sold in this offering.

 

    Without Over-Allotment   With Over-Allotment  
Public offering price           $ 10.00           $ 10.00  
Net tangible book value before this offering   $ 0.00           $ 0.00          
Increase attributable to new investors     0.65             0.58          
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and sale of placement units             0.65             0.58  
Dilution to new investors           $ 9.35           $ 9.42  

 

The following table sets forth information with respect to holders of founder shares, placement shares, and the public stockholders:

 

   Total shares(1)   Total consideration   Average 
   Number   %   Amount   %   Price
per share
 
Holders of founder shares   5,800,000    20.0%  $25,000    0.01%  $0.0043 
Holders of placement shares   700,000    2.4%   7,000,000    3.02%  $10.00 
Public stockholders   22,500,000    77.6%   225,000,000    96.97%  $10.00 
Total   29,000,000    100.0%  $232,025,000    100.0%     

(1)Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option and corresponding forfeiture of 843,750 founder shares by the initial stockholders as a result thereof.

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The pro forma net tangible book value per share after the offering is calculated as follows:

 

 

Without Over-

Allotment

Option

   

With Over-

Allotment

Option

 
Numerator:              
Net tangible book value before this offering, including the stock subscription receivable $ 14,000     $ 14,000  
Net proceeds from this offering and sale of placement units   226,300,000       259,375,000  
Plus: Offering costs incurred in advance   10,000       10,000  
Less: Deferred underwriting commission   (7,875,000 )     (9,056,250 )
Less: Proceeds held in the trust account which may be used to redeem shares   (213,448,990 )     (245,342,740 )
  $ 5,000,010     $ 5,000,010  
Denominator:              
Shares of common stock outstanding before this offering   6,643,750       6,643,750  
Less: Shares subject to forfeiture assuming no overallotment option exercised(1)   (843,750 )     -
Shares of common stock included in the placement units   700,000       700,000  
Shares of common stock included in the units offered   22,500,000       25,875,000  
Less: Shares subject to redemption to maintain net tangible assets of $5,000,001   (21,344,899 )     (24,534,274 )
    7,655,101       8,684,476  

 

(1)Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option and that 843,750 founder shares have been forfeited by the initial stockholders as a result thereof.

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CAPITALIZATION

 

The following table sets forth our capitalization at March 2, 2021 and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the sale of our units and the placement units and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:

 

   

March 2, 2021

(unaudited)

 
    Actual    

As

Adjusted(1)(5)

 
Advance from related party   $ -     $ -  
Deferred underwriting commissions     -       7,875,000  
Common stock, subject to redemption(2)     -       213,448,990 (4)
Stockholder’s equity:                
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding     -       -  
Common stock:                
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 115,000,000 shares authorized (actual and as adjusted); no shares issued and outstanding (actual); 1,855,101 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 21,344,899 shares subject to redemption) (as adjusted)     -       186  
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, 15,000,000 shares authorized (actual and as adjusted); 6,643,750 shares issued and outstanding (actual); 5,800,000 shares issued and outstanding (as adjusted)(3)     664       580  
Additional paid-in capital     24,336       5,000,244  
Accumulated deficit     (1,000 )     (1,000 )
Total stockholders’ equity     24,000       5,000,010  
Total capitalization   $ 24,000     $ 226,324,000  

 

(1)Includes the $7,000,000 we will receive from the sale of the placement units.
(2)Upon the consummation of our initial business combination, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account See “Proposed Business - Effecting our Initial Business Combination.”
(3)The “as adjusted” amount assumes the overallotment option has not been exercised and a corresponding forfeiture of an aggregate of 843,750 founder shares held by the initial stockholders.
(4)The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the “as adjusted” stockholders’ equity, which is set to approximate the minimum net tangible assets threshold of at least $5,000,001.
(5)Excludes 21,344,899 shares of common stock purchased in the public market 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 public shares that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination for an estimated $10.00 per share.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Overview

 

We are a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not identified any acquisition target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any discussions, directly or indirectly, with respect to identifying any acquisition target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the placement units, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination.

 

The issuance of additional shares of our stock in a business combination:

 

  may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering;

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

  may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common stock and/or warrants.

 

Similarly, if we issue debt securities, 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 security is payable on demand and the lender demands payment;

 

  limitations on our ability to obtain additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to incur debt;

 

  our inability to pay dividends on our common stock due to covenants limiting or prohibiting dividends;

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

  limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

 

At March 2, 2021, we had deferred offering costs of $10,000 and our net tangible book value was $(11,000).

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Further, we expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate 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, at the earliest, the consummation of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating revenues in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial position since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur significantly increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for expenses incurred in identifying and examining target businesses and completing our initial business combination.

 

We are an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act. Section 107 of the JOBS Act 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.

 

Upon the issuance of a new or revised accounting standard that applies to our financial statements and has a different effective date for public and private companies, we will disclose the date on which adoption is required for non-emerging growth companies and the date on which we will adopt the recently-issued accounting standard.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

At March 2, 2021, we had a working capital deficit of $(11,000). Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this uncertainty through this offering are discussed below. Our plans to raise capital or to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful.

 

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied to date of this prospectus through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares to the initial holders. Loans up to $300,000 have been committed by 1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor LLC. We estimate that the net proceeds from: (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $1,200,000 and the non-deferred underwriters’ discount of $4,500,000, but including deferred underwriting commissions of $7,875,000 (or $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), and (ii) the sale of 700,000 placement units to our sponsor for a purchase price of $7,000,000, will be approximately $226,300,000 (or approximately $259,375,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), of which $225,000,000 (or $258,750,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account. If our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,200,000, we may fund such excess with the net proceeds from this offering and the private placement held out of trust. If our offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,200,000, the balance will be used for post-closing working capital.

 

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 amounts released to us to pay taxes and deferred underwriting commissions), to consummate our initial business combination. We may use interest earned on the trust account to pay our franchise and income taxes and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses. We estimate our annual franchise tax obligations, based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding after the completion of this offering to be approximately $200,000. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to consummate 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 approximately $1,300,000 (or approximately $625,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, 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.

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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 would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The unit would be identical to the 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 or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

 

We expect our primary liquidity requirements during the period between the completion of this offering and the consummation of our initial business combination to include approximately $1,300,000 in expenses, as described in more detailed under “Use of Proceeds.” These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. We may incur additional expenses in connection with this offering over and above the amounts set forth in “Use of Proceeds.” In addition, we may use the net proceeds from this offering and the private placement held out of trust and loans from our sponsor 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 on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.

 

We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required to identify and acquire a target business. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking due diligence investigations and negotiating an initial business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to pursue and consummate our initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing if we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only obtain such financing simultaneously with the consummation of our initial business combination.

 

Controls and Procedures

 

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we maintain a system of internal controls, and beginning with our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022, that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls. In addition, once we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” we will be subject to the requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to have our system of internal controls audited. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not completed an assessment, nor have our auditors tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the consummation 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 a 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;

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  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 expense in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.

 

Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent auditors to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent auditors may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.

 

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

 

The net proceeds of this offering and the private placement, including amounts in the trust account, will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

 

Related Party Transactions

 

In February 2021, our sponsor acquired 6,643,750 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares of our common stock upon completion of this offering. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon consummation of this offering.

 

Our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

 

Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or 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.

 

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 would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender at the time of the business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units sold in the private placement. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

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Our sponsor has committed to purchase 700,000 placement units, each unit consisting of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant, for a purchase price of $7,000,000 in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the completion of this offering. Each whole placement warrant is exercisable for one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. Our sponsor will be permitted to transfer the placement units, and their underlying common stock and warrants, held by them to certain permitted transferees, including our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to it or them, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as the sponsor. Otherwise, these units will not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our business combination. The placement warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. The placement warrants may also be exercised by the sponsor and its permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. The placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

 

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with our initial stockholders on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders, and holders of warrants included in the units issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results

 

As of March 2, 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 are included in this prospectus as we have conducted no 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 auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal control 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 Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis), and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our initial public offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.

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PROPOSED BUSINESS

 

General

 

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination or our business combination.

 

To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities as well as activities related to this offering. We have not selected any specific 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 have generated no operating revenues to date, and we may not generate operating revenues even after we consummate our initial business combination.

 

While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we intend to focus on industries that complement our management team’s background, and to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a technology business related to the verticals of real estate (“PropTech”) or financial services (“FinTech”), as well as the adjacent industries that collectively contribute to the ability of people to enjoy, improve, conserve, interact, and access the world around them.

 

Our sponsor is an affiliate of 1Sharpe Capital, LLC (“1Sharpe Capital”). 1Sharpe Capital was founded in 2016 to seek exceptional investment opportunities in real estate, finance, and technology. As of December 31, 2020, 1Sharpe Capital and its affiliates have grown to manage more than $1.3 billion assets. Our sponsor believes that 1Sharpe Capital’s rapid growth has been the direct result of investor interest in our performance and confidence in our team and its approach to investing.

 

Our management team believes its experience as entrepreneurs and operators who have successfully, and repeatedly, identified, founded, built, expanded and sustained businesses of substantial enterprise value in the fields of finance, real estate, and technology, is a critical differentiator. Our management team believes these experiences will make it a desirable partner to entrepreneurs and high growth companies through every stage of their evolution from nascent idea to standard-setting market leader. In combination with many of its team members’ prior positions within institutional finance, long-only money management, and Wall Street investment banks, our management team believes 1Sharpe Capital is a bridge between Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Over time, our management team has developed deep relationships with capital sources, real estate investors and users, distribution partners, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs. Our management team often looks to this network to bring perspective and ideas beyond its own and considers it an asset of the firm that our management team maintains these relationships in earnest.

 

Our management team believes that much of its success has been the result of a culture of hard work, creativity, excellence, ethics, and vision. It believes that its success will continue to rely on the abilities of its principals and founders, Rob Bloemker and Gregor Watson, and on a growing team of top investment and operations professionals across 1Sharpe Capital and its subsidiaries.

 

Since its founding in 2016, 1Sharpe Capital and its affiliates have:

 

Invested in commercial and residential real estate backed credit assets across the United States and United Kingdom through the cultivation of proprietary origination relationships;

Secured no less than $900 million in real estate related debt capital commitments spanning asset repurchase agreements, term loans and securitization transactions;

Underwritten multifamily real estate investments across the Midwest and Southeast while building a vertically integrated property management company, Brick and Vine LLC;

Invested in early stage PropTech and FinTech businesses that 1Sharpe Capital believes to have solid prospects for growth and strategic or technological value.

 

In respective other and/or prior roles, the principals and investment professionals of 1Sharpe Capital have overseen more than $60 billion in credit assets, founded or co-founded seven businesses in real estate and financial services, exited four prior businesses, and have served on the boards of numerous companies. The businesses they founded, co-founded and/or managed have raised funding of more than $200 million.

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Past performance by 1Sharpe Capital, our sponsor, our management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee either (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on their respective historical records or performance as indicative of our future performance. As described in this prospectus, Mr. Gilbert has had management experience with blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies. However, none of our officers or directors, nor our sponsor, has had management experience with blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies in the past.

 

Market Opportunity

 

We believe that the physical and digital worlds are colliding at lightning speed. We believe that this collision course is tectonic in magnitude, irreversible in nature, and wide in embrace from across all stakeholder categories of real estate, finance, and technology. In this period of unprecedented transformation, remaining at the forefront of innovation will be critical to maintaining competitiveness, whether financial or experiential. We believe that these market dynamics and the collision of the physical and digital worlds presents a tremendous opportunity to invest in technology that could define the future of the world’s largest asset class and how it interacts with everyone and everything around it.

 

     Large and Growing Addressable Market: By some measures, real estate is the largest asset class in the world. Additionally, technological investment in the sector is rapidly accelerating. According to CREtech’s data, over the four years from 2016 to 2019 more than $58 billion was invested in PropTech. According to CRETI’s data, about $23.75 billion was invested in PropTech in 2020. This total investment from 2016 to 2020 marks a meteoric rise from less than $10 billion of investments made over the 5 years from 2011 to 2015, based on data from CREtech. Throughout this wave of both increasing focus and investment, we have observed the emergence of a deep and diverse list of privately held PropTech companies that are now at or approaching unicorn valuations. We expect this number to grow substantially as PropTech investment and adoption accelerates further. Being among the largest asset classes, real estate has also attracted the attention of FinTech innovations from lending, to payments, to insurance, and beyond.

 

     Innovation and COVID-19 Acceleration: The COVID-19 pandemic has made both temporary and permanent changes to the way we live, work, entertain, and care. We believe that it has accelerated the necessity for PropTech innovations including reimagining the use and design of homes and offices, changing how we host virtual communications, streamlining asset management and operations, and facilitating digital experiences for consumers, businesses, lenders and investors alike. We believe the changes made, whether by necessity or prudence, have built enough momentum as to help many technologies reach escape velocity and to rewrite many habits of everyday life for the digital necessities, and growing preferences, of our time. We believe that these changes will undoubtedly undergo further refinement and development, but for so many reasons, we believe that there is no going back to life exactly as it was before the pandemic.

 

     Global Need: According to a report issued by the United States Environment Protection Agency, Americans, on average, spend approximately 90% of their time indoors. The full spectrum of our lives depends on the built world , and on the technology available for facilitating our access to it and enjoyment of it. In the coming decade, we expect PropTech will be instrumental to improving and solving some of the globe’s most daunting challenges, both indoors and across the outdoors, including, providing quality housing at an affordable price, achieving sustainability through greater energy efficiency, more recycling, and lower consumption, redefining the future of commercial spaces, accommodating demographic changes, and making technology more accessible.

 

Business Strategy

 

Our sponsor has experience both operating and investing across a range of business models, business environments and end markets. We intend to capitalize on our sponsor’s significant expertise within the real estate, finance, and technology sectors to identify, evaluate and acquire a stake in a compelling target, although we may pursue a business combination outside of those industries. We will seek to invest in businesses with a combination of commercial and strategic value.

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We intend to focus on businesses meeting the following criteria:

 

     Large Addressable Market: We will focus on investing in a business that addresses a large market that creates the opportunity for attractive long-term growth prospects. Additionally, we will seek to find a target with products or services that have transferrable applications and extensions beyond their current uses and scalable in their economics.

 

     Competitive Positioning: We intend to focus on businesses with strong and defensible moats of positioning or technology. We believe these competitive advantages over time will lead to durable and profitable growth.

 

     Attractive Valuation: We are experienced investors with a keen understanding of fundamental and relative value. We plan to seek prospective businesses with valuations that justify strong prospects for future growth and performance, without taking undue risks.

 

     Exceptional Leadership: We intend to partner with a management team that has a well-defined vision for the company and the sector in which they operate. We intend to identify a management team with a proven track record in managing and scaling businesses. We will prioritize working with a team that is ethical, diverse, visionary, and stockholder conscious.

 

     Ability to Create Outsized Value: We believe our team’s combination of investment capabilities and best in class operating expertise in PropTech and FinTech will make a business combination with us an attractive path for target companies with prospects that extend far beyond the initial business combination. We believe it is imperative to invest in a company to whom we can add meaningful, long-term value.

 

We believe our team’s collective experience managing, acquiring and investing in technology and growth businesses is a competitive advantage in identifying attractive opportunities and in successfully completing a business combination that drives long-term value for our stockholders.

 

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC.

 

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or their respective affiliates, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or a qualified independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

Initial Business Combination

 

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA, or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our stockholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion, nor will they be able to rely on it.

 

We may, at our option, pursue an acquisition opportunity jointly with one or more entities or funds affiliated with our sponsor or management team or their respective affiliates, which we refer to as an affiliated joint acquisition. Any such parties may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity-linked securities. We refer to this potential future issuance, or a similar issuance to other specified purchasers, as a “specified future issuance” throughout this prospectus.

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We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. We are continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue, for a business combination, but we have not identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.

 

Effecting Our Initial Business Combination

 

General

 

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations following this offering until completion of our initial business combination. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination.

 

If we pay for our initial business combination using stock or debt securities, or we do not use all of the funds released from the trust account for payment of the purchase price in connection with our business combination or for redemptions of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of acquired businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in consummating our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

 

We have not identified any acquisition target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any discussions, with respect to identifying any acquisition target. From the period prior to our formation through the date of this prospectus, there have been no communications or discussions between any of our officers, directors or our sponsor and any of their contacts or relationships regarding a potential initial business combination. 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. 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 impact a target business.

 

Nasdaq rules require that our initial business combination be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. However, if our securities are not listed on Nasdaq or another securities exchange, we will no longer be subject to that requirement.

 

We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities to finance our initial business combination, and we may effectuate an initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would consummate such financing only simultaneously with the consummation of our initial business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the initial business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law or Nasdaq, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.

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Sources of Acquisition Candidates

 

We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers, attorneys, accountants, venture capital funds, private equity funds, leveraged buyout funds, management buyout funds, brokers and other members of the financial community and corporate executives. These target candidates may present solicited or unsolicited proposals. We expect such sources to become aware that we are seeking a business combination candidate by a variety of means, including publicly available information relating to this offering, public relations and marketing efforts or direct contact by management following the completion of this offering.

 

Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their contacts. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of 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 finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only if our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will we pay our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is), other than (i) repayment of loans made to us prior to the date of this prospectus by our sponsor to cover offering-relating and organization expenses, (ii) repayment of loans that our sponsor or one of its affiliates may make to finance transaction costs in

 

connection with an intended initial business combination (provided that if we do not consummate an initial business combination, we may use 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), (iii) at the closing of our initial business combination, customary advisory fees, including placement agent fees, to an affiliate of our sponsor, in amounts that constitute a market standard fee for comparable transactions and services provided; and (iv) to reimburse our sponsor, officers or directors for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. None of the initial holders, our officers, our directors or any entity with which they are affiliated will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder’s fees or consulting fees from a prospective acquisition target in connection with a contemplated acquisition of such target by us. Although some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the acquired business following our initial business combination, the presence or absence of any such 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 business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. Additionally, we are not prohibited from partnering, submitting joint bids, or entering into any similar transaction with such persons in the pursuit of an initial business combination. If we seek to complete an initial business combination with such a company or we partner with such persons in our pursuit of an initial business combination, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. Generally, such opinion is rendered to a company’s board of directors and investment banking firms may take the view that stockholders may not rely on the opinion. Such view will not impact our decision on which investment banking firm to hire.

 

Unless we consummate our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain a financial fairness opinion from an independent investment banking firm. If we do not obtain such an opinion, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value and fairness based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. The application of such standards would involve a comparison, from a valuation standpoint, of our business combination target to comparable public companies, as applicable, and a comparison of our contemplated transaction with such business combination target to other then-recently announced comparable private and public company transactions, as applicable. The application of such standards and the basis of our board of directors’ determination will be discussed and disclosed in our tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

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Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

In addition, our sponsor, our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination

 

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair market value of our initial business combination will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation, a valuation based on trading multiples of comparable public businesses or a valuation based on the financial metrics of M&A transactions of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. We have also agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

 

In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.

 

To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

 

In evaluating a prospective business target, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us.

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The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.

 

Lack of business diversification

 

For an indefinite period of time after consummation of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. In addition, we intend to focus our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. By consummating a business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

 

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

 

  cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.

 

Limited ability to evaluate the target’s management team

 

Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating a target business, our assessment of the target business’ management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. The future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following a business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to a business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have 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.

 

Stockholders may not have the ability to approve a business combination

 

We may not seek stockholder approval before we effect our initial business combination as not all business combinations require stockholder approval under applicable law. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or Nasdaq, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons. Presented in the table below is a table of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.

 

Type of Transaction  

Whether

Stockholder

Approval is

Required

Purchase of assets   No
Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company   No
Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company   No
Merger of the company with a target   Yes

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So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:

 

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

 

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

 

  the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control.

 

Permitted purchases of our securities

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers or their respective affiliates may purchase public securities in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the consummation of our initial business combination, although as of the date of this prospectus (apart from the purchase of the placement units) they have no commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions. If they do effect such purchases, we anticipate that they would approach a limited number of large holders of our securities that have voted against the business combination or sought redemption of their shares, or that have indicated an intention to do so, and engage in direct negotiations for the purchase of such holders’ positions. All holders approached in this manner would be institutional or sophisticated holders. There is no limit on the number of shares they may acquire. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or during a restricted period under Regulation M under the Exchange Act or in transactions that would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10(b)-5 under the Exchange Act. Although they do not currently anticipate paying any premium purchase price for such public shares, there is no limit on the price they may pay. They may also enter into transactions to provide such holders with incentives to acquire shares or vote their shares in favor of an initial business combination. No funds in the trust account may be used to effect purchases of public securities in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions.

 

The purpose of such purchases of public shares would be to (i) increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of the business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. This may result in the consummation of a business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

 

As a consequence of any such purchases by our initial holders, directors, officers or their affiliates, the public “float” of our common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to obtain the continued listing of our securities on Nasdaq or another national securities exchange in connection with our initial business combination.

 

Our initial holders, officers, directors and/or their respective affiliates anticipate that they will identify the public stockholders with whom they may pursue privately negotiated purchases through either direct contact by the public stockholders or by our receipt of redemption requests or votes against the business combination submitted by such public stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. The sellers of any shares so purchased by our initial holders, officers, advisors, directors and/or their affiliates would, as part of the sale arrangement, revoke their election to redeem such shares and withdraw their vote against the business combination. The terms of such purchases would operate to facilitate our ability to consummate a proposed business combination by potentially reducing the number of shares redeemed for cash.

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Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchases are subject to such reporting requirements.

 

Redemption rights for public stockholders upon consummation of our initial business combination

 

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the consummation of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including any amounts representing deferred underwriting commissions and interest earned on the trust account (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account initially will be $10.00 per public share. There will be no redemption rights upon the consummation of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. The initial holders, our officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and placement shares, as applicable, (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) or if we liquidate prior to the expiration of the 24 month period. The initial holders and our directors and officers have also agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to public shares in connection with the consummation of a business combination and in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the 24 month period. However, the initial holders and our directors and officers will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business combination or liquidate within the 24 month period.

 

Manner of Conducting Redemptions

 

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement.

 

We currently intend to conduct redemptions pursuant to a stockholder vote unless stockholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons.

 

If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

  conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of the proposed business combination, and

 

  file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to consummating our initial business combination that will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

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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 shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

 

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules), or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.

 

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or rules of Nasdaq, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will:

 

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

 

  file proxy materials with the SEC.

 

We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any stockholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our Nasdaq listing or Exchange Act registration.

 

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote any founder shares, placement shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. We expect that at the time of any stockholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 22.4% of our outstanding shares of common stock entitled to vote thereon. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,000,001, or 35.6%, of the 22,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the overallotment option is not exercised) in order to have such initial business combination approved. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination after payment of deferred underwriting commissions (so that we are not then subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules), and, in any event, the terms of the proposed business combination may require our net tangible assets to be greater than $5,000,001. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or members of its management team, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the allocation of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. If the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly tendered plus the amount of any cash payments required pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceeds the aggregate amount of cash available to us, taking into consideration the requirement that we maintain net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 or such greater amount depending on the terms of our potential business combination, we will not consummate the business combination and any shares of Class A common stock tendered pursuant to the tender offer will be returned to the holders thereof following the expiration of the tender offer.

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Limitation on redemption upon consummation of a business combination if we seek stockholder approval

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.

 

Tendering stock certificates in connection with redemption rights

 

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve our initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the initial 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 exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

 

There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $100.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.

 

The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed initial business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his redemption rights. After the initial business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him to deliver his certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the consummation of the business combination during which he could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he could sell his shares in the open market before actually delivering his shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the consummation of the initial business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

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Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may, with our consent, be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivers 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 an initial business combination.

 

If the initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.

 

If our proposed initial business combination is not consummated, we may continue to try to consummate a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option).

 

Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) to consummate our initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within the 24 month period, we will distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, pro rata to our public stockholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up our affairs. If we have not consummated a business combination within 24 months from the completion 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 all public shares then outstanding at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (net of taxes payable) and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such completion window.

 

The initial holders, our officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and placement shares, as applicable, (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) or if we liquidate prior to the expiration of the 24 month period. The initial holders and our officers and directors have also agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to public shares in connection with the consummation of a business combination and in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the 24 month period. However, the initial holders and our officers and directors will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business combination within the 24 month period.

 

The representatives have agreed to waive their rights to deferred underwriting commissions held in the trust account if we do not consummate a business combination and subsequently liquidate and, in such event, the deferred underwriting commissions held in the trust account will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

 

Our initial stockholders, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “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 (described above), we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.

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We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $1,300,000 (or $625,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.

 

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering and the private placement, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be less than the $10.00 per public share initially on deposit in the trust account. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

 

Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (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 any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. If we do not obtain a waiver from a third party, we will obtain the written consent of our sponsor before our entering into an agreement with such third party. 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 and where our sponsor executes a written consent. 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, pursuant to a written agreement, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a definitive transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below $10.00 per share, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity 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. We cannot assure you, however, that such indemnitor will be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Our sponsor may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations, and therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

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If the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below $10.00 per public share and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy any applicable 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 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 a particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per public share.

 

We will have access to up to approximately $1,300,000 (or approximately $625,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) from the proceeds of this offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,200,000, 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 $1,200,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

 

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares if we do not consummate our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

 

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution. If we have not consummated a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), or earlier at the discretion of our board, 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 all public shares then outstanding at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24th month and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

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Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (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 any monies held in the trust account.

 

As a result of this obligation and our sponsor’s indemnification of the trust account against certain claims as previously described in this section, we believe that the claims that could be made against us will be significantly limited and that the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below $10.00 per public share, and will 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. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.

 

If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

 

We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

 

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the consummation of the initial business combination. Also, our management may cease to pursue a business combination prior to the expiration of the 24 month period (our board of directors may determine to liquidate the trust account prior to such expiration if it determines, in its business judgment, that it is improbable within the remaining time to identify an attractive business combination or satisfy regulatory and other business and legal requirements to consummate a business combination). In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above.

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Comparison of redemption or purchase prices in connection with our initial business combination and if we fail to consummate a business combination.

 

The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination and if we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option).

 

    Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination   Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates   Redemptions if we fail to Consummate an Initial Business Combination
Calculation of redemption price   Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share), including any amounts representing deferred underwriting commissions and interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us for the payment of taxes or dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination.   If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our affiliates may enter into privately negotiated transactions to purchase public shares from stockholders. There is no limit to the prices that our initial stockholders, directors, officers or their affiliates may pay in these transactions.   If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), 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 $10.00 per public share), including any amounts representing deferred underwriting commissions and interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

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    Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination   Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates   Redemptions if we fail to Consummate an Initial Business Combination
Impact to remaining stockholders   The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and franchise and income taxes payable.   None.   The redemption of our public shares if we fail to consummate a business combination will reduce the book value per share for the founder shares and the placement shares held by our initial stockholders, who will be our only remaining stockholders after such redemptions.

 

Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419

 

The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriters will not exercise their overallotment 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   $225,000,000 of the net proceeds ($258,750,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) of this offering and the private placement, which includes $7,875,000 in deferred underwriting commissions ($9,056,250 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), will be deposited into a trust account in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.   Approximately $191,362,500 of the offering proceeds (approximately $220,066,875 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), representing the gross proceeds of this offering, 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.

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    Terms of Our Offering   Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
Investment of net proceeds   $225,000,000 of the net proceeds ($258,750,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) of this offering and the private placement, which includes $7,875,000 in deferred underwriting commissions (approximately $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act.   Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.
         
Receipt of interest on funds in trust account   We will be entitled to withdraw interest income earned on the funds in the trust account to pay our franchise and income taxes and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses. Our stockholders will have no right to receive any pro-rata portion of interest income earned on the proceeds held in the trust account released to us.   Interest on funds in the 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 consummation of a business combination.
         
Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business   So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination.   The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.

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    Terms of Our Offering   Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
Trading of securities issued   We expect the units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Barclays and Cantor Fitzgerald, acting as 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 under “Description of Securities - Units” 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 completion of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the overallotment 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 overallotment option.   No trading of the units or the underlying Class A common stock and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.
       
Exercise of the warrants   The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the consummation of our initial business combination or 12 months from the completion of this offering.   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.

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    Terms of Our Offering   Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
Election to remain an investor  

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon the consummation of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including any amounts representing deferred underwriting commissions and interest earned on the trust account (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein.

 

We may not be required by law to hold a stockholder vote. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. 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. If, however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination.

  A 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 not less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a stockholder of the company or requires the return of his, her or its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account would be automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued.

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    Terms of Our Offering   Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
    Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting.    

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    Terms of Our Offering   Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
Business combination deadline   If we are unable to complete a business combination within 24 months from completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), 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 any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.   If an acquisition has not been consummated within 24 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.

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    Terms of Our Offering   Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a stockholder vote   If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder (including our affiliates), together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares (more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering). Our public stockholders’ inability to redeem Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and they could suffer a material loss on their investment in us if they sell any Excess Shares in open market transactions.   Many blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of stockholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such stockholders in connection with an initial business combination.
         
Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights   We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights.   In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, holders could vote against a proposed initial business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holders were seeking to exercise their redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholders to arrange for them to deliver their certificate to verify ownership.

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    Terms of Our Offering   Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
Release of funds   Except for interest income earned on the trust account balance, which will be released to us to pay our taxes or to pay dissolution expenses (up to $100,000), none of the funds held in trust will be released from the trust account until the earlier of (i) the consummation of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering, subject to applicable law; or (iii) otherwise upon our liquidation or in the event our board of directors resolves to liquidate the trust account and ceases to pursue the consummation of a business combination prior to the expiration of the 24 month period.   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.

 

Competition

 

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds and operating businesses seeking strategic 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 to our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for an initial business combination. In addition, the number of our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.

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Facilities

 

We currently maintain our executive offices at 370 Highland Ave., Piedmont, CA 94611. This office space is provided to us by our sponsor or its affiliate free of rent.

 

Employees

 

We currently have two executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our affairs 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 consummation of our initial business combination.

 

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

 

We will register our units, Class A common stock 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.

 

On or prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to 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 business combination.

 

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential targets we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the above requirements or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the above requirements. 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 will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

 

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

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In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

 

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

 

Legal Proceedings

 

There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such, and we and the members of our management team have not been subject to any such proceeding in the 12 months preceding the date of this prospectus.

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MANAGEMENT

 

Directors, Director Nominees and Executive Officers

 

Our directors, director nominees and executive officers are as follows:

 

Name   Age   Title
Gregor Watson   40   Chief Executive Officer and Director
Rob Bloemker   54   Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director
Charles E. Haldeman Jr.   72   Director and Chairman of the Board nominee
Jacob Seid   45   Director nominee
Suzanne Klahr   48   Director nominee
Richard J Boyle, Jr.   55   Director nominee

 

Gregor Watson has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors since our inception. Mr. Watson is a real estate technology visionary and serial entrepreneur. From his beginnings as a real estate entrepreneur, Mr. Watson has forged a track record of investing, and building businesses, ahead of the curve. He was a pioneer of single family rentals and the technology needed to make the asset class possible. Mr. Watson is a member of 1Sharpe Capital’s Investment and Operating Committees. Prior to co-founding 1Sharpe Capital, Mr. Watson co-founded Roofstock, Inc., an online marketplace for single-family rental homes backed by Khosla Ventures and Bain Capital, where he continues to serve as the Chairman. Mr. Watson is a Co-Founder of Lessen, Inc., a tech-enabled marketplace for services to institutional property owners, Zibo, Inc., a landlord-centric digital bank, and Juice, a financial platform for digital content creators. He was the founder of 643 Capital Management LLC, a real estate private equity firm that has acquired, renovated and managed thousands of homes across the United States under its operating brand, StreetLane Homes. He also co-founded Dwell Finance LLC, a lender to investors of single family homes, which originated over $500 million in loans and was sold to B2R, a unit of Blackstone. Mr. Watson spent the early part of his career investing in property throughout California. Mr. Watson is a graduate of Regis University in Denver with a BA. Mr. Watson’s significant investment and management experience makes him well qualified to serve as a member of our Board of Directors.

 

Rob Bloemker has served as our Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and a member of the Board of Directors since our inception. Mr. Bloemker has over two decades of investment experience spanning real estate and public markets. Mr. Bloemker leads 1Sharpe Capital’s Investment Committee and is a member of its Operating Committee. Before co-founding 1Sharpe Capital, Mr. Bloemker spent nearly 30 years investing in bonds, loans, and real estate. Most recently he was a Portfolio Manager at Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. within their mortgage hedge fund. Prior to Cerberus, Mr. Bloemker co-founded Dwell Finance LLC, a lender to investors of single-family homes, which originated over $500 million in loans, and was sold to B2R, a unit of Blackstone, as well as Five Ten Capital LLC where he raised, invested, and successfully liquidated three private equity funds that acquired, renovated, and managed thousands of single family rental homes across the United States. He spent 12 years at Putnam Investments LLC where he was Head of Fixed Income overseeing more than $60 billion in assets and co-founded the firm’s absolute return and hedge fund strategies. Prior to that, Mr. Bloemker held senior roles within fixed income at Lehman Brothers Inc. and Salomon Brothers, Inc. He is a Co-Founder of Zibo, Inc., a landlord-centric digital bank. Mr. Bloemker received his BSBA from Washington University, in St. Louis. Mr. Bloemker’s significant investment and management experience makes him well qualified to serve as a member of our Board of Directors.

 

Charles E. Haldeman Jr. will serve as the chairman of our Board of Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Haldeman currently serves on the board of trustees of JBG Smith Properties (NYSE: JBGS), a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Bethesda, Maryland. From July 2009 to June 2012, Mr. Haldeman served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, a public government-sponsored enterprise that operates in the U.S. secondary mortgage market. Mr. Haldeman joined the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation from Putnam Investments LLC, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer from November 2003 to June 2008 and Chairman from June 2008 to June 2009. Mr. Haldeman served as the Non-Executive Chairman of KCG Holdings (NYSE: KCG) from November 2013 until July 2017. Since 2012, Mr. Haldeman has served as a member of the Board of Directors of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), including as the Non-Executive Chairman since April 2015 and as a member of the Financial Policy and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. Mr. Haldeman also served as the director of DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE: DST) from November 2014 until April 2018. Mr. Haldeman received his Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College, Summa Cum Laude, a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where he graduated with high distinction as a Baker Scholar, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Mr. Haldeman’s significant management experience, in particular his experience overseeing the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation’s strategy, operating plans and financial goals makes him well qualified to serve as a member of our Board of Directors.

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Jacob Seid will serve as a member of our Board of Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Seid is a Member of Stonebridge Advisors A Series of Stonebridge Beta LLC. As a venture capital investor, Mr. Seid has invested extensively in companies across PropTech, FinTech and enterprise software. Previously, he was the President of Auction.com LLC (now known by the two brands Ten-X.com and Auction.com) where he built one of the largest online marketplaces across commercial and residential real estate transactions. Prior to Auction.com, he was a Managing Director at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a leading Silicon Valley venture firm. Prior to Lightspeed, Mr. Seid was with Cisco Systems Inc.’s (Ticker: CSCO) cable business unit. He was part of the team that pioneered commercialization of the now broadly used DOCSIS standard. Mr. Seid holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering and a MEng in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2009. Mr. Seid’s significant management experience makes him well qualified to serve as a member of our Board of Directors.

 

Suzanne Klahr, Esq. will serve as a member of our Board of Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Ms. Klahr founded www.BUILD.org in 1999 and served as its CEO from 1999 to 2018 taking the idea from concept to a national organization, helping underserved students and communities and working at the intersection of entrepreneurship, government and technology. In 2019, Ms. Klahr founded Mayacamas Partners, a unique consultancy that propels clients to achieve audacious goals in strategy, communication, impact and diversity. Mayacamas works with a select group of diverse clients from grass-roots organizations to multi-billion dollar public companies to unlock innovation, inspiration, and impact. This work includes helping CEOs and management teams identify which ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles are crucial to their organization, working with teams to understand the importance of these matters, and articulating the fundamental approach and process to see their goals come to fruition. Ms. Klahr is a pioneer in the field of social entrepreneurship and has taught at both Stanford and Harvard Law Schools. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law teaching both law and business school students. Ms. Klahr was inducted into the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) in 2014 and has served as a Trustee of the Skadden Fellowship Foundation and a board member at Businesses United in Investing Lending and Development (BUILD). She is a member of the Board of Advisors of Trellis: Legal Intelligence and Boundless Venture Studio. Ms. Klahr graduated with a dual degree from Brown University and has a JD from Stanford Law School. Ms. Klahr’s significant management experience and academic background make her well qualified to serve as a member of our Board of Directors.

 

Richard J Boyle, Jr. will serve as a member of our Board of Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Boyle is a longtime operations executive turned venture capitalist who invests in real estate tech, artificial intelligence, robotics and marketplaces. Mr. Boyle is a general partner of Canaan Partners XI, LLC and Canaan Partners XII, LLC. He was the President, Chairman and CEO of LoopNet, Inc., the leading online marketplace for the commercial real estate industry. He led LoopNet through a successful IPO in 2006 and an eventual $860 million sale to CoStar Group Inc. Earlier, Mr. Boyle was the Senior Vice President of Products & Technology at Risk Management Solutions, Inc. and, immediately prior to joining Canaan, an operating partner with Khosla Ventures Associates III, LLC and Khosla Ventures Associates IV, LLC. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. Mr. Boyle’s significant management experience makes him well qualified to serve as a member of our Board of Directors.

 

Advisors

 

In addition to our management team, other members of our sponsor and/or its affiliates will be available to assist us as our advisors with a broad range of work streams related to the assessment of potential business combination targets and the implementation of value enhancing initiatives following our initial business combination. Although such individuals will not be members of our management team, they are members of our sponsor and/or its affiliates, and we anticipate that they will be available to provide functional expertise as needed. However, such individuals have no obligation to provide advice or services to us. Furthermore, such individuals will not perform board or committee functions, nor will they have any voting or decision making capacity on our behalf. They will also not be subject to the fiduciary requirements to which our board members are subject. Our advisor are as follows:

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Fred Tuomi, our advisor, served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Invitation Homes Inc, one of the nation’s largest single-family rental company, from 2017 until his retirement in 2019. Prior to its merger with Invitation Homes Inc., Mr. Tuomi served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Starwood Waypoint Homes from 2016 until 2017. Prior to its merger with Starwood Waypoint Homes, he served as Co-President and Chief Operating Officer of Colony American Homes, Inc. from 2013 until 2016. Mr. Tuomi was the Executive Vice President and President—Property Management for Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), one of the nation’s largest multi-family REITs, from 1994 until his retirement in 2013. He led the development of Equity Residential’s property management group through years of rapid growth and expansion, while helping to pioneer its leading operational platform. Throughout his career, he has served on numerous real estate industry boards and executive committees, including the National Rental Home Council, National Multi-Housing Council, California Housing Council, California Apartment Association, Atlanta Apartment Association and the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. Mr. Tuomi has also served as a director and on the Audit and Compensation Committees of Tejon Ranch Co., a public diversified real estate development and agribusiness company. He currently serves as a Venture Partner with Real Estate Technology Ventures, and as a Director for various PropTech companies including SmartRent.com, Inc., TurboTenant Inc, and Lessen, Inc. Mr. Tuomi serves on the Board of Managers and Executive Committee of MultiGreen Properties, LLC, a multifamily company focused on the development of attainable and sustainable communities. He also serves as an advisor to various real estate investors and SFR management platforms and serves a board member for Cure Violence Global, which is dedicated to reducing violence through innovative intervention programs and ranks number 9 among the World Top 200 Best Social Good Organizations by NGO Advisor.

 

Ryan M. Gilbert, our advisor, has been the President, Chief Executive officer and director of FTAC Parnassus since December 2020 and the President, Chief Executive Officer and director of FTAC Olympus (NASDAQ: FTOC). Mr. Gilbert brings over 20 years of global financial services expertise as an entrepreneur, angel investor, venture investor, and advisor spanning payments, remittances, credit, insurance, and compliance. Since February 2016, Mr. Gilbert has been a General Partner at Propel Venture Partners, a venture capital fund backed by BBVA Group. He currently represents Propel Venture Partners on the boards of directors of Guideline, Inc., Enrollease, Inc., Steady Platform, Inc., Charlie Finance Co. and Grabango Co. Since July 2015, he has served as an independent director of bKash Limited, Bangladesh’s largest remittance and mobile banking platform. He has also served as a director of River City Bank, a $2.5 billion community bank based in Sacramento, CA, since October 2012, and as a director of The Reserve Trust Company, a non-depository Colorado chartered Trust Company, since May 2020. Before joining Propel Venture Partners, Mr. Gilbert served as Chief Executive Officer of BillFloat, Inc. (dba SmartBiz Loans), a consumer finance service company that he co-founded in September 2009. He continues to serve as SmartBiz Loans’ Executive Chairman. He was previously the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of real estate payments company PropertyBridge (acquired by MoneyGram International in 2007). Mr. Gilbert graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is a member of the State Bar of California. Mr. Gilbert currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp.

 

Anjali Mecklai, our advisor, is the COO and CCO of 1Sharpe Capital and is a member of the Operating and Valuation Committee. Prior to 1Sharpe Capital, Ms. Mecklai held various leadership positions at LendingHome and OneWest Bank across finance, treasury, capital markets and operations. Ms. Mecklai started her career in New York at Deloitte and subsequently Deutsche Bank’s structured finance practices. Ms. Mecklai is a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles.

 

Phoebe Schreiber, our advisor, has over fifteen years of investment and operating experience, with deep experience investing in and managing single family rental homes. Ms. Schreiber is a consultant to leading single family rental investors. She co-founded and was Chief Investment Officer at Streetlane Homes LLC, a national single family rental platform with thousands of homes, and subsequently launched Roofstock, Inc.’s institutional portfolio management platform after its acquisition of Streetlane Homes. Ms. Schreiber was previously the Chief Operating Officer of 643 Capital Management Inc., where she led its single family rental investing strategy and underwriting and operations for its lending platform. She also led operations and developed proprietary underwriting and operating systems for Dwell Finance LLC, which originated over $500 million of loans and was sold to B2R, a subsidiary of Blackstone. Prior to joining 643 Capital Management Inc., Ms. Schreiber was a Director at McKinley Capital Partners where she led acquisitions and operations for its distressed housing and debt platforms. Earlier in her career, Ms. Schreiber covered the gaming and lodging sector at Ascend Capital, LLC, a long/short hedge fund, and worked in ad operations at Google, Inc. Ms. Schreiber earned a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College and is a CFA charter holder.

 

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William Rueter, our advisor, is a director at 1Sharpe Capital with primary responsibilities related to the firm’s real estate private equity investments and broader research agenda. He is also active in vetting venture and incubation opportunities. Before 1Sharpe Capital, Mr. Rueter co-founded Harbor Inc., a SaaS marketing automation company targeting financial advisors and insurance brokers, and founded Nemo LLC, an investment partnership targeting multi-family assets in mid-Atlantic markets. Mr. Rueter was previously an investor at Advent International targeting private equity investments in business and financial services companies. He began his career at UBS Investment Bank. William has served on the board of Lumina Solar since 2018. He holds a B.A. from Harvard College and a Master’s from the University of Oxford.

 

Feng Wang, our advisor, is a director at 1Sharpe Capital and oversees the firm’s debt capital markets and securitization initiatives while aiding the firm’s various PropTech and Fintech related initiatives. Prior to 1Sharpe Capital, Mr. Wang was a founding executive and co-head of capital markets and risk at LendingHome, a technology enabled, nationwise originator of investor property loans and served on the Investment Committee of its private funds. Prior to LendingHome, Mr. Wang was Vice President of the mortgage investment team at Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. Mr. Wang started his career at BlackRock. Feng graduated from Cornell University with a degree in economics and mathematics.

 

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

 

Our board of directors is divided into two classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a two-year term. Subject to any other special rights applicable to the stockholders, any vacancies on our board of directors may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at the meeting of our board or by a majority of the holders of our founder shares. Furthermore, prior to our initial business combination, only holders of the founder shares have the right to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of our board of directors for any reason.

 

Director Independence

 

Nasdaq rules require that a majority of the board of directors of a company listed on Nasdaq must be composed of “independent directors.” An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship, which, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. We have determined that Messrs. Haldeman, Seid, and Boyle and Ms. Klahr are independent directors under the Nasdaq rules and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act.

 

Executive Officer and Director Compensation

 

None of our officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.

 

After the consummation of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain in one of those capacities may be paid director, consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.

 

Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee consisting solely of 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 the initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business although we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of an 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.

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Board Committees

 

Audit Committee

 

Upon or prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors, which will consist of Messrs. Haldeman, Boyle and             . Each of Messrs. Haldeman and Boyle, and             meet the independent director standard under Nasdaq’s listing standards and under Rule 10A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act. Mr. Boyle will serve as Chairman of our audit committee.

 

The audit committee’s duties, which are specified in our Audit Committee Charter, include, but are not limited to:

 

  reviewing and discussing with management and the independent registered public accounting firm our annual audited financial statements, and recommending to the board whether the audited financial statements should be included in our Form 10-K;

 

  discussing with management and the independent registered public accounting firm significant financial reporting issues and judgments made in connection with the preparation of our financial statements;

 

  discussing with management major risk assessment and risk management policies;

 

  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;

 

  reviewing and approving all related-party transactions;

 

  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; and

 

  approving reimbursement of expenses incurred by our management team in identifying potential target businesses.

 

Financial Expert on Audit Committee

 

The audit committee will at all times be composed exclusively of independent directors who are “financially literate” as defined under Nasdaq’s listing standards. The Nasdaq listing standards define “financially literate” as being able to read and understand fundamental financial statements, including a company’s balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement.

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In addition, we must certify to the Nasdaq Capital Market that the committee has, and will continue to have, at least one member who has past employment experience in finance or accounting, requisite professional certification in accounting, or other comparable experience or background that results in the individual’s financial sophistication. We have determined that Mr. Boyle satisfies Nasdaq’s definition of financial sophistication and also qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert,” as defined under rules and regulations of the SEC.

 

Compensation Committee

 

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors. The members of our Compensation Committee will be Mr. Seid and Ms. Klahr. Ms. Klahr will serve as chairman of the compensation committee. 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 Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer’s based on such evaluation;

 

  reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other 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 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;

 

  reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors; and

 

  monitoring compliance with the requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act relating to loans to directors and officers, and with all other applicable laws affecting employee compensation and benefits.

 

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 Nasdaq and the SEC.

 

Code of Conduct and Ethics

 

Effective upon completion of this offering, we will adopt a code of conduct and ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees in accordance with applicable federal securities laws.

 

Other Board Committees

 

Our board of directors intends to establish a nominating committee upon consummation of our initial business combination. At that time, our board of directors intends to adopt a charter for this committee. Prior to such time, our independent directors will address any nominations process, as required by Nasdaq.

 

Conflicts of Interest

 

In general, officers and directors of a Delaware corporation are required to present business opportunities to the corporation if:

 

  the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity;

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  the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and

 

  it would not be fair to the corporation and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, however, that the doctrine of corporate opportunity, or any other analogous doctrine, will not apply to us or any of our officers or directors or in circumstances that would conflict with any current or future fiduciary duties or contractual obligations.

 

Accordingly, 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 pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present the opportunity to such entity prior to presenting the opportunity to us or, if he or she is subject to a non-compete obligation that includes business opportunities, he or she may be prohibited from referring such opportunity to us. Below is a table summarizing the companies to which our officers and directors owe fiduciary obligations that could conflict with their fiduciary obligations to us, all of which may have to (i) be presented appropriate potential target businesses by our officers or directors, and (ii) reject the opportunity to acquire such potential target business, before the opportunity may be presented to us:

 

Individual   Entity   Entity’s Business   Affiliation
Gregor Watson   1Sharpe Capital, LLC  

Investments

  Member, and member of the Investment Committee and Operating Committee respectively
    Roofstock, Inc.   PropTech   Chairman
    Lessen, Inc.   PropTech   Co-Founder
    Zibo, Inc.   PropTech   Co-Founder and Director
    643 Capital Management LLC   Real Estate   Founder
             
Rob Bloemker   1Sharpe Capital, LLC   Investments   Member, chairman of the Investment Committee and member of the Operating Committee
    Zibo, Inc.   PropTech   Co-Founder
             
Charles E. Haldeman, Jr.   JBG Smith Properties   Real Estate   Member of board of trustees, and member of the Audit, Nominating, and Corporate Governance Committees respectively
    S&P Global   Financial Services   Director (Non-Executive Chairman and a member of the Financial Policy and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees)
             
Jacob Seid   Stonebridge Advisors A Series of Stonebridge Beta LLC   Technology Investments   Member

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Suzanne Klahr   Businesses United in Investing Lending and Development (BUILD)   Nonprofit   Founder and Director
             
Richard J Boyle, Jr.   Canaan Partners XI, LLC   Investments   General Partner
             
    Canaan Partners XII, LLC   Investments   General Partner
             
    ApartmentList, Inc.   PropTech   Director
             
    Mynd Management, Inc.   PropTech   Director
             
    Archipelago Analytics, Inc.   Software   Director
             
    Zibo, Inc.   PropTech   Director
             
    Lev Capital, Inc.   Software   Director
             
    Join Digital, Inc.   Software   Director
             
    BerkshireGrey, Inc.   Software   Director
             
    Climacell, Inc.   Software   Director
             
    Hermeus, Inc.   Software   Director
             
    BellHop, Inc.   Software   Director
             
    Bond, Inc.   Software   Director

 

We do not believe that any of the foregoing pre-existing fiduciary duties will materially affect our ability to consummate our initial business combination.

 

Each of our sponsor, officers and directors may become involved with subsequent blank check companies similar to our company. As a result, our sponsor, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved.

 

Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:

 

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

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  Each of the holders of the founder shares and placement units has agreed that his, her or its founder shares and placement shares, as applicable, will be subject to transfer restrictions and that he, she or it will not sell or transfer such shares until the applicable forfeiture provisions no longer apply. Holders of founder shares and placement shares have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and placement shares, as applicable, (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination within the 24 months period or if we liquidate prior to the expiration of the 24 month period. The initial holders have also agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to public shares in connection with the consummation of a business combination and in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the 24 month period. However, our initial holders will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business combination or liquidate within the 24 month period. To the extent our holders of founder shares or placement shares transfer any of these securities to certain permitted transferees, such permitted transferees will agree, as a condition to such transfer, to waive these same redemption rights. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such 24 month period, the portion of the proceeds of the sale of the placement units placed into the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our founder shares, placement shares or placement warrants, which will expire worthless if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months of the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option). Except as described under “Principal Stockholders - Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units,” the founder shares, placement units and their underlying securities will not be transferable, assignable or salable.

 

  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 was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

 

  Our sponsor, officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. Additionally, we are not prohibited from partnering, submitting joint bids, or entering into any similar transaction with holders of founder shares, our officers or directors and their affiliates, in the pursuit of an initial business combination. The interests of our partners in any such transaction may differ materially from ours. If we seek to complete an initial business combination with such a company or we partner with such related persons in our pursuit of an initial business combination, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. Furthermore, in no event will these related persons be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination other than (i) repayment of loans made to us prior to the date of this prospectus by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organization expenses, (ii) repayment of any incremental loans which our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their respective affiliates or other third parties may make to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination (provided that if we do not consummate an initial business combination, we may use 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) and (iii) at the closing of our initial business combination, customary advisory fees, including placement agent fees, to an affiliate of our sponsor, in amounts that constitute a market standard fee for comparable transactions and services provided.

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We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor. For a discussion of our policies and procedures relating to related party transactions, see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions - Related Party Policy.”

 

In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor and each of our initial stockholders has agreed to vote their founder shares, placement shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. Our sponsor and the other initial holders will own, upon completion of this offering and the private placement and assuming they buy no shares in this offering (which they have indicated they do not intend to do), a total of 6,500,000 shares of Class B common stock and placement shares, or 7,343,750 shares of Class B common stock and placement shares if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option in full, representing approximately 22.4% and 22.1%, respectively, of our then-outstanding shares. Accordingly, 8,000,001 public shares (9,265,626 public shares if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) constituting approximately 35.6% (approximately 35.8% if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) of outstanding public shares must be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order for it to be approved.

 

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provide that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by applicable Delaware law. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such exemption from liability is not permitted under the DGCL.

 

We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also will permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We will 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.

 

These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against 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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PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

 

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus, by:

 

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

 

  each of our officers, directors and director nominees that beneficially owns shares of our common stock; and

 

  all our 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 shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.

 

   Prior to the Offering(1)   Following the Offering(2)(3) 
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(4)  Number of
shares of
common
stock
   Percentage of
outstanding
common
stock
   Number of
shares of
common
stock
   Percentage of
outstanding
common
stock
 
1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor LLC(5)   6,643,750    100%   5,800,000    20%
Gregor Watson(5)   6,643,750    100%   5,800,000    20%
Rob Bloemker(5)   6,643,750    100%   5,800,000    20%
Charles E. Haldeman, Jr.   --    --    --    -- 
Jacob Seid   --    --    --    -- 
Suzanne Klahr   --    --    --    -- 
Richard J Boyle, Jr.   --    --    --    -- 
All directors, director nominees and officers as a group (six persons)   6,643,750    100%   5,800,000    20%

 

*Less than 1 percent.
(1)Includes an aggregate of 843,750 founder shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the overallotment option is not exercised by the underwriters.
(2)Assumes (i) the underwriters’ overallotment option has not been exercised and, as a result, an aggregate of 843,750 founder shares have been forfeited, and (ii) that 700,000 placement units have been purchased by the sponsor.
(3)Total shares outstanding after the offering includes 5,800,000 founder shares and includes the sale of 700,000 placement units subject to subscription agreements in a private placement to be completed simultaneously with this offering.
(4)Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the persons and entities listed above is 370 Highland Ave., Piedmont, CA 94611.
(5)1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of the shares reported herein. Gregor Watson and Rob Bloemker are the managing members of our sponsor.

 

After giving effect to the issuance of founder shares and private placement of the placement units, our sponsor will own approximately 22.4% of the outstanding common stock following the offering and approximately 22.1% if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full (assuming that holders of founder shares and purchasers of the placement units do not purchase any public shares in this offering or the public market). Because of this ownership block, our initial stockholders and the holders of placement shares will have significant influence over the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors, amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions other than approval of our initial business combination.

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To the extent the underwriters do not exercise the overallotment option, up to an aggregate of 843,750 founder shares will be forfeited. Our initial holders will be required to forfeit only a number of founder shares necessary so that the collective number of founder shares represents 20.0% of the aggregate of our founder shares, placement shares and our public shares, in each case after giving effect to the offering and the exercise, if any, of the underwriters’ overallotment option.

 

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 700,000 placement units at the price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000, in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the completion of this offering. Each placement unit contains one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant contained in a placement unit entitles the holder to purchase one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our founder shares, placement units or warrants, which will expire worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option). The placement units and their underlying securities are subject to the transfer restrictions described below under “- Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units”). The placement warrants will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. If the placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. The placement warrants may also be exercised by our sponsor or its permitted transferees on a cashless basis.

 

Our sponsor and executive officers are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.

 

Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units

 

The founder shares, placement units, placement shares, placement warrants and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in a letter agreement with us to be entered into by our sponsor, officers and directors. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable: (i) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of the shares of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share consolidations, share capitalizations, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property; and (ii) in the case of the placement warrants (and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon their exercise), until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual’s immediate family or an affiliate of such person, or to a charitable organization, (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual, (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with any forward purchase agreement or similar arrangements or in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares were originally purchased, (f) in the event of our liquidation prior to our completion of our initial business combination, or (g) by virtue of the laws of the State of Delaware or our sponsor’s operating agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (e) or (g), these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and by the same agreements entered into by our sponsor with respect to such securities (including provisions relating to voting, the trust account and liquidation distributions described elsewhere in this prospectus).

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Registration Rights

 

The holders of the founder shares, placement units (including securities contained therein) and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of loans made by our sponsor or one of its affiliates will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock) pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. These holders will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include such securities in other registration statements filed by us and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements.

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

In February 2021, our sponsor purchased 6,643,750 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. If the underwriters determine the size of the offering should be increased, a stock dividend would be effectuated so that founder shares represent 20% of the aggregate of our founder shares, the placement shares and our issued and outstanding public shares after this offering.

 

If the underwriters do not exercise all or a portion of their overallotment option, holders of founder shares have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us that they will forfeit up to an aggregate of 843,750 founder shares in proportion to the portion of the underwriters’ overallotment option that was not exercised.

 

Our sponsor has committed to purchase 700,000 placement units, at the price of $10.00 per unit for an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000, in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the completion of this offering. The placement warrants will be identical to the warrants sold in this offering, except that if held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, they (a) may be exercised for cash or on a cashless basis, (b) are not subject to being called for redemption, and (c) they (including the common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions (as described in more detail under “Principal Stockholders - Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units”), be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the consummation of our initial business combination. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our founder shares, placement shares or warrants, which will expire worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination.

 

The placement units will be sold in a private placement pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) or Regulation D of the Securities Act and will be exempt from registration requirements under the federal securities laws. As such, the holders of the placement warrants included in the placement units will be able to exercise such placement warrants even if, at the time of exercise, an effective registration statement and a current prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants is not available. Other than (i) repayment of loans made to us prior to the date of this prospectus by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organization expenses, (ii) repayment of any incremental loans which our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us (provided that if we do not consummate an initial business combination, we may use 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), (iii) at the closing of our initial business combination, customary advisory fees, including placement agent fees, to an affiliate of our sponsor, in amounts that constitute a market standard fee for comparable transactions and services provided; and (iv) to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination, no compensation or fees of any kind, including finder’s fees, consulting fees or other similar compensation, will be paid to our initial stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to or with respect to our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). Prior to the appointment of our audit committee, our independent directors must approve all payments in excess of $5,000 to any initial holder, our directors and officers or entities with which they are affiliated. Following the appointment of an audit committee, the audit committee will approve such payments.

 

As of the date of this prospectus, we have not borrowed any amounts under loans and advances available to us by our sponsor to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the completion of this offering.

 

As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management - Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of an initial business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

 

Other than the foregoing, no compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any payment of a loan, will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers, prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of an initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

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Our sponsor has agreed that, if the trust account is liquidated without the consummation of a business combination, it will indemnify us to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or any claims by a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below $10.00 per public share, except for any claims by any third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account, regardless of whether such waiver is enforceable, and except for claims arising from our obligation to indemnify the underwriters of this offering pursuant to the underwriting agreement for this offering. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company, and, therefore, our sponsor may be unable to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations.

 

In order to fund working capital requirements and 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 would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Such loans may be convertible into units at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender at the time of the business combination. The units would be identical to the 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 or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

 

After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.

 

All ongoing and future transactions between us and any member of our management team or his or her respective affiliates will be on terms believed by us at that time, based upon other similar arrangements known to us, to be no less favorable to us than are available from unaffiliated third parties. It is our intention to obtain estimates from unaffiliated third parties for similar goods or services to ascertain whether such transactions with affiliates are on terms that are no less favorable to us than are otherwise available from such unaffiliated third parties. If a transaction with an affiliated third party were found to be on terms less favorable to us than with an unaffiliated third party, we would not engage in such transaction.

 

Related Party Policy

 

We have not yet adopted a formal policy for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions. Accordingly, the transactions discussed above were not reviewed, approved or ratified in accordance with any such policy.

 

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt a code of ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our code of ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company. A form of the code of ethics that we plan to adopt prior to the consummation of this offering is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

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In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter that we will adopt prior to the consummation of this offering, will be responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. A form of the audit committee charter that we plan to adopt prior to the consummation of this offering is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. We also require each of our directors and officers to complete a directors’ and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions.

 

These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.

 

Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.

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DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

 

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock will consist of 115,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 15,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value. The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.

 

Units

 

Public Units

 

Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one whole share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise his, her or its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.

 

We anticipate that the Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Barclays and Cantor Fitzgerald, acting as 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 shares of Class A common stock 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 shares of Class A common stock and warrants.

 

In no event will the Class A common stock 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 of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes this audited balance sheet upon the completion of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days after the date of this prospectus. The audited balance sheet will include proceeds we received from the exercise of the overallotment option if such option is exercised prior to the filing of the Current Report on Form 8-K. If the underwriters’ overallotment 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’ overallotment option.

 

Placement Units

 

The placement units (including the placement warrants or placement shares included therein) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under “Principal Stockholders - Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor) and will have certain registration rights. Otherwise, the placement units are identical to the units sold in this offering except that the placement warrants included therein, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis, and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights.

 

Common Stock

 

As of the date of this prospectus, there were 6,643,750 founder shares outstanding. This includes an aggregate of 843,750 founder shares which will be forfeited to the extent that the underwriters’ overallotment option is not exercised in full. Our sponsor has committed to purchase 700,000 placement shares contained in the placement units in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the completion of this offering. Holders of founder shares will hold (including the placement shares held by our sponsor) an aggregate of approximately 22.4% of the issued and outstanding common stock (approximately 22.1% if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) following the offering and the expiration of the underwriters’ overallotment option. Upon completion of this offering, 29,000,000 shares of our common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option).

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Common stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of our board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended if approved by a majority of at least 90% of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting. On any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, holders of our Class B common stock and holders of our Class A common stock will vote together as a single class, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rule. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our shares of common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders (other than the election of directors). Directors will be divided into two classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of two years with only one class elected in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors. Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.

 

Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 115,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, if we were to enter into an initial business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of shares of Class A common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholders vote on the initial business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.

 

In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws, unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination, and thus may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

 

We will provide all public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination, either in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or by means of a tender offer, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including any amounts representing deferred underwriting commissions and interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us for the payment of taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share.

 

The initial holders, our officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and placement shares, as applicable, (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) or if we liquidate prior to the expiration of the 24 month period. The initial holders and our officers and directors have also agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to public shares in connection with the consummation of a business combination and in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the 24 month period. However, the initial holders and our officers and directors will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business combination within the 24 month period. To the extent our initial stockholders or purchasers of placement units transfer any of these securities to certain permitted transferees, such permitted transferees will agree, as a condition to such transfer, to waive these same redemption rights. Also, our sponsor has committed to purchase 700,000 placement units at the price of $10.00 per unit, in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the completion of this offering. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor, the other initial holders, our officers and our directors, have agreed to vote their respective founder shares, placement shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.

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The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. We currently intend to conduct redemptions pursuant to a stockholder vote unless stockholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons.

 

If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to consummating our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or Nasdaq, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote any founder shares, placement shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. We expect that at the time of any stockholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 22.4% of our outstanding shares of common stock entitled to vote thereon. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,000,001, or 35.6%, of the 22,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the option to purchase additional units is not exercised) in order to have such initial business combination approved. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.

 

Assuming our initial business combination is approved, to the extent provided in this prospectus, each public stockholder may elect to redeem his, her or its public shares irrespective of whether he, she or it votes for or against the proposed transaction, for cash equal to a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest but less interest released to us to pay taxes or dissolution costs.

 

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), 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 any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under

 

Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. The initial holders, our officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and placement shares they hold (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination within the 24 month period or if we liquidate prior to the expiration of the 24 month period. The initial holders, our officers and directors have also agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to public shares in connection with the consummation of a business combination and in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the 24 month period. However, the initial holders, our officers and directors will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business combination or liquidate within the 24 month period.

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If we liquidate, dissolve or wind up after our initial business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock, except that upon the consummation of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein, we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of our common stock for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses.

 

Founder Shares

 

The founder shares and placement shares are each identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares or placement shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that (i) only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to our initial business combination; (ii) the founder shares and placement shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in “Principal Stockholders - Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units,” and (iii) each holder of founder shares has agreed, and each purchaser of placement units will agree, to waive his, her or its redemption rights with respect to his, her or its founder shares and placement shares, (A) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (B) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), (C) if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the 24 month period and (D) upon our liquidation prior to the expiration of the 24 month period. To the extent holders of founder shares or purchasers of placement units transfer any of these securities, such transferees will agree, as a condition to such transfer, to waive these same redemption rights. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor and the other initial holders have agreed, and our officers and directors will each agree, to vote their respective founder shares, placement shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.

 

The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis (subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts sold in this offering and related to the closing of the initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock issued and outstanding upon completion of this offering, including placement shares, plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in our initial business combination and any private placement-equivalent securities issued to our sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to us. We cannot determine at this time whether a majority of the holders of our Class B common stock at the time of any future issuance would agree to waive such adjustment to the conversion ratio. They may waive such adjustment due to (but not limited to) the following: (i) closing conditions which are part of the agreement for our initial business combination; (ii) negotiation with Class A stockholders on structuring an initial business combination; or (iii) negotiation with parties providing financing which would trigger the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B common stock. If such adjustment is not waived, the future issuance would not reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class B common stock, but would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class A common stock. If such adjustment is waived, the future issuance would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of both classes of our common stock. The term “equity-linked securities” refers to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Class A common stock issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt. Securities could be “deemed issued” for purposes of the conversion rate adjustment if such shares are issuable upon the conversion or exercise of convertible securities, warrants or similar securities.

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With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our initial holders, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the shares of Class A common stock equal or exceed $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share consolidations, share capitalizations, rights issuances, 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 stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property.

 

Preferred Stock

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able, without stockholder approval, to issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering. However, if issued prior to our initial business combination, none of the shares of our preferred stock will have any right to amounts held in the trust account.

 

Warrants

 

Public Warrants

 

Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one whole share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of 12 months from the closing of this offering or 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrantholder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrantholder. 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. 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.

 

We will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise for cash 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 shares of Class A common stock 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. No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt from the registration or qualifications requirements of the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants has not been declared effective by the end of 60 business days following the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act.

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We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable best efforts to file with the SEC, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our 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. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, 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, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.

 

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may call the warrants for redemption:

 

  in whole and not in part;

 

  at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

  upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and

 

  if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Class A common stock (or the closing bid price of our common stock in the event shares of our common stock are not traded on any specific day) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

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 established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.

 

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise its warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Class A common stock to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants after our initial business combination. If we call our warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, our sponsor and its permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their placement warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, as described in more detail below.

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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 person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Class A common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.

 

If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by a split-up of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Class A common stock. A rights offering to holders of Class A common stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Class A common stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Class A common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock) multiplied by (ii) one (1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) fair market value means the volume weighted average price of Class A common stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Class A common stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.

 

In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A common stock on account of such shares of Class A common stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our Class A common stock if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (e) 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 share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.

 

If the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Class A common stock.

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Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.

 

In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the shares of our Class A common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. If less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of Class A common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the Black-Scholes value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant.

 

The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which was 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 agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.

 

In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by us and in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial stockholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 50% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of our shares of Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we complete 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 adjacent to “Redemption of warrants” 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 warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Class A common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of Class A common stock. After the issuance of shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one (1) vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

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Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. 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 of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder. As a result, warrant holders not purchasing an even number of warrants must sell any odd number of warrants in order to obtain full value from the fractional interest that will not be issued.

 

Placement Warrants

 

Our sponsor has committed to purchase 233,333 placement warrants which are included in the 700,000 placement units to be purchased at a price of $10.00 per unit for an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000, in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the completion of this offering. The placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders - Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor) and they will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. Our sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the placement warrants on a cashless basis. Except as described below, the placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. If the placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

 

If holders of the placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following an initial 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 prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.

 

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. Such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the placement units.

 

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

 

The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, and each of its officers, directors, employees, affiliates and agents against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, bad faith or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.

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Amendments to our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. These provisions, which cannot be amended without the approval of holders owning 65% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock, are as follows:

 

if we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering (excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), 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 any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us for the payment of taxes or dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;

 

  after the completion of this offering and prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination;

 

  although we do not currently intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with holders of founder shares, our directors or officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. If we propose to do so, we, or a committee of independent directors, must obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such a business combination is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view;

 

  if a stockholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law or Nasdaq and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we must 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 consummating our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act;

 

  if our stockholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our business combination within 24 months, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of common stock upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; and

 

  we may not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

 

If, however, the effect of any proposed amendment, if adopted, would be either to (i) reduce the amount in the trust account available to redeeming stockholders to less than $10.00 per share, or (ii) delay the date on which a public stockholder could otherwise redeem shares for such per share amount in the trust account and, if such amendment is approved by persons holding at least 65% of our outstanding shares of common stock we will provide a right for dissenting public stockholders to redeem their public shares in the same manner as if we were seeking a stockholder vote on a business combination, except that the amount on deposit in the trust account for purposes of calculating the per share redemption price will be determined at the close of business two business days before the meeting date. Our initial holders, executive officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares and public shares they hold in favor of any such amendments that we may propose and, accordingly, will have no redemption rights in connection therewith.

 

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides 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 upon consummation of our initial business combination. This notwithstanding, if the effect of any proposed amendment, if adopted, would be either to (i) reduce the amount in the trust account available to redeeming stockholders to less than $10.00 per public share, or (ii) delay the date on which a public stockholder could otherwise redeem shares for such per share amount in the trust account, we will provide a right for dissenting public stockholders to redeem public shares if such an amendment is approved.

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Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law

 

We will be subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers upon completion of this offering. This statute prevents certain Delaware corporations, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with:

 

  a stockholder who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock (otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”);

 

  an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or

 

  an associate of an interested stockholder, for three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder.

 

A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than 10% of our assets. However, the above provisions of Section 203 do not apply if:

 

  our board of directors approves the transaction that made the stockholder an “interested stockholder,” prior to the date of the transaction;

 

  after the completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, that stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than statutorily excluded shares of common stock; or

 

  on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized at a meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder.

 

Exclusive Forum Selection

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

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SECURITIES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE

 

Immediately after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) we will have 29,000,000 shares of common stock outstanding, or 33,218,750 shares of common stock outstanding if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option in full. Of these shares, the 22,500,000 shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), or 25,875,000 shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option in full, will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. The remaining 5,800,000 founder shares (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option) and 700,000 placement shares are 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 of our common stock or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell his, her or its 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 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale. However, 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. Rule 144 does include an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:

 

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

 

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

 

  the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than 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, the initial holders and purchasers of placement units will be able to sell their founder shares, placement shares, placement warrants, and warrants that may be issued on conversion of loans by our sponsor or one of its affiliates (and shares issued upon their exercise), as applicable, pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination. However, if they remain one of our affiliates, they will only be permitted to sell a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:

 

  1% of the total number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 290,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 332,188 shares if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full); or

 

  the average weekly reported trading volume of the common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.

 

Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 would also be limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.

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Registration Rights

 

The holders of the founder shares, placement units (including securities contained therein) and units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the placement warrants and warrants included in the units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering, requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock). The holders of the majority 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 the completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

 

Listing of Securities

 

We intend to apply to list our units on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “UNOOU,” and we anticipate that our common stock and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “UNOO” and “UNOOW,” respectively. We anticipate our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement. Following the date the shares of our common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our common stock and warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on Nasdaq.

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CERTAIN UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

 

The following is a discussion of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. Because the components of a unit (consisting of one share of our Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant) are 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 common stock and one-third of one warrant components of the unit, as the case may be. As a result, the discussion below with respect to actual holders of Class A common stock and warrants should also apply to holders of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying Class A common stock and warrants that comprise the units). This discussion applies only to securities that are held as capital assets for U.S. federal income tax purposes, is applicable only to holders who purchased units in this offering.

 

This discussion does not describe all of the tax consequences that may be relevant to you in light of your particular circumstances, including but not limited to the alternative minimum tax, the Medicare tax on certain investment income and the different consequences that may apply if you are subject to special rules that apply to certain types of investors, such as:

 

  financial institutions or financial services entities;

 

  broker-dealers;

 

  governments or agencies or instrumentalities thereof;

 

  regulated investment companies;

 

  real estate investment trusts;

 

  expatriates or former long-term residents of the U.S.;

 

  persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more of our stock by vote or value;

 

  insurance companies;

 

  dealers or traders subject to a mark to market method of accounting with respect to the securities;

 

  persons holding the securities as part of a “straddle,” hedge, integrated transaction or similar transaction;

 

  U.S. holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar;

 

  partnerships or other pass -through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes and any beneficial owners of such entities;

 

  tax-exempt entities;

 

  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; and

 

  our sponsor, founders, officers or directors.

 

If you are a partnership or other pass-through entity (or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership or pass-through entity) for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of your partners or other owners will generally depend on the status of the partners (or other owners) and your activities. If you are a partner (or other owner) of a partnership or other pass-through entity that acquires our securities, you are urged to consult your tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of acquiring, owning and disposing of our securities.

 

This discussion is based on the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and administrative pronouncements, judicial decisions and final, temporary and proposed Treasury regulations as of the date hereof, which are subject to change, possibly on a retroactive basis, and changes to any of which subsequent to the date of this prospectus may affect the tax consequences described herein. This discussion does not address any aspect of state, local or non -U.S. taxation, or any U.S. federal taxes other than income taxes (such as gift and estate taxes).

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We have not sought, and will not seek, a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (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. You are urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the application of the U.S. federal tax laws to your particular situation, as well as any tax consequences arising under the laws of any state, local or foreign jurisdiction.

 

THIS DISCUSSION OF U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TAX ADVICE. WE URGE PROSPECTIVE HOLDERS TO CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS CONCERNING THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF ACQUIRING, OWNING AND DISPOSING OF OUR SECURITIES, AS WELL AS THE APPLICATION OF ANY STATE, LOCAL AND NON-U.S. INCOME, ESTATE AND OTHER TAX CONSIDERATIONS.

 

Personal Holding Company Status

 

We could be subject to a second level of U.S. federal income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company, or PHC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A U.S. corporation generally will be classified as a PHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year if (i) at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules) more than 50% of the stock of the corporation by value and (ii) at least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents).

 

Depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income as discussed above. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts, more than 50% of our stock may be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not become a PHC following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed PHC income, which generally includes our taxable income, subject to certain adjustments. The PHC requirements may apply to us in the taxable year of the offering and/or future taxable years.

 

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 share of our Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable to acquire one share of our Class A common stock. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner and, by purchasing a unit, you will agree to adopt such treatment for 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 share of Class A common stock and the one-third of one 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 his or her own determination of such value based on all the relevant facts and circumstances. Therefore, we strongly urge each investor to consult his or her tax adviser regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The price allocated to each share of Class A common stock and the one-third of one warrant should be the stockholder’s initial tax basis in such share or one-third of one warrant, as the case may be. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the share of Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the Class A common stock and the one-third of one 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). The separation of the share of Class A common stock and the one-third of one warrant comprising a unit should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

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The foregoing treatment of the units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants and a holder’s 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 own tax advisors 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, shares of common stock 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 taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; or

 

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

 

  a trust, 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 Treasury regulations to be treated as a U.S. person.

 

Taxation of Distributions. If we pay distributions in cash or other property (other than certain distributions of our stock or rights to acquire our stock) to U.S. holders of shares of our Class A common stock, such distributions generally will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits will constitute a return of capital that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A common stock. Any remaining excess will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock and will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” below.

 

Dividends we pay to a U.S. holder that is a taxable corporation generally will qualify for the dividends received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. With certain exceptions (including, but not limited to, dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), and provided certain holding period requirements are met, dividends we pay to a non-corporate U.S. holder may constitute “qualified dividends” that will be subject to tax at the applicable tax rate accorded to long-term capital gains. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements with respect to the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income, as the case may be. If the holding period requirements are not satisfied, then a corporation may not be able to qualify for the dividends received deduction and would have taxable income equal to the entire dividend amount, and non-corporate holders may be subject to tax on such dividend at regular ordinary income tax rates instead of the preferential rate that applies to qualified dividend income.

 

Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants. Upon a sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock or warrants (which, in general, would include a redemption of Class A common stock or warrants that is treated as a sale of such securities as described below, and including as a result of a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period), a U.S. holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in the Class A common stock or warrants so disposed of. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock or warrants so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. If the running of the holding period for the Class A common stock is suspended, then non-corporate U.S. holders may not be able to satisfy the one-year holding period requirement for long-term capital gain treatment, in which case any gain on a sale or taxable disposition of the shares or warrants would be subject to short-term capital gain treatment and would be taxed at regular ordinary income tax rates. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. holders are currently eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

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Generally, the amount of gain or loss recognized by a U.S. holder is an amount 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 common stock 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 common stock or the warrants based upon the then fair market values of the Class A common stock and the warrants constituting the units) and (ii) the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock or warrants so disposed of. A U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock or warrants generally will equal the U.S. holder’s acquisition cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a share of Class A common stock or one-third of one warrant or, as discussed below, the U.S. holder’s initial basis for Class A common stock received upon exercise of warrants) less, in the case of a share of Class A common stock, any prior distributions treated as a return of capital.

 

Redemption of Class A Common Stock. In the event that a U.S. holder’s Class A common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Common Stock” or if we purchase a U.S. holder’s Class A common stock in an open market transaction (each of which we refer to as a “redemption”), the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as a sale or exchange of the Class A common stock under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale or exchange of common stock, the U.S. holder will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders —Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale or exchange of common stock, the U.S. holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution with the tax consequences described above under “U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions.” Whether a redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the U.S. holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. holder – for example, as a result of owning warrants) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption. The redemption of Class A common stock generally will be treated as a sale or exchange of the Class A common stock (rather than as a corporate distribution) if the redemption (i) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. holder, (ii) results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. holder’s 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 stock actually owned by the U.S. holder, but also shares of our stock that are constructively owned by it. A U.S. holder may constructively own, in addition to stock owned directly, stock owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. holder, as well as any stock the U.S. holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include Class A common stock which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the warrants. In order to meet the substantially disproportionate test, the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder immediately following the redemption of Class A common stock must, among other requirements, be less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder immediately before the redemption. Prior to our initial business combination, however, the Class A common stock may not be treated as voting stock for this purpose. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. holder’s interest if either (i) all of the shares of our stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder are redeemed or (ii) all of the shares of our stock actually owned by the U.S. holder are redeemed and the U.S. holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of stock owned by certain family members and the U.S. holder does not constructively own any other shares of our stock. The redemption of the Class A common stock will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend if the redemption or purchase by us results in a “meaningful reduction” of the U.S. holder’s proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. holder’s proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. However, the IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority stockholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a “meaningful reduction.” A U.S. holder should consult with its own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption.

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If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, then the redemption will be treated as a corporate distribution taxed as described under “U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions,” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. holder in the redeemed Class A common stock will be added to the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining stock, or, if it has none, to the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other stock constructively owned by it.

 

Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant. Except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. holder generally will not recognize taxable gain or loss on the acquisition of common stock upon exercise of a warrant for cash. The U.S. holder’s tax basis in the share of our Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrant generally will be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. holder’s initial investment in the warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. holder’s purchase price for 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 the U.S. holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrants will begin on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrants; in either case, the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. holder held the warrants. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the warrant.

 

The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current tax law. A cashless exercise may be tax-free, 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 tax-free situation, a U.S. holder’s basis in the Class A common stock received generally should equal the holder’s basis in the warrants exercised therefor. If the cashless exercise were treated as not being a realization event (and not a recapitalization), it is unclear whether a U.S. holder’s holding period in the Class A common stock would be treated as commencing on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period would not include the period during which the U.S. holder held the warrants. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A common stock would include the holding period of the warrants exercised therefor.

 

It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized. In such event, a U.S. holder would recognize gain or loss with respect to the portion of the warrants treated as surrendered (the “surrendered warrants”) to pay the exercise price of the remaining warrants (the “exercised warrants”). The U.S. holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the surrendered warrants and the U.S. holder’s tax basis in such warrants. In this case, a U.S. holder’s tax basis in the Class A common stock received would equal the sum of the U.S. holder’s initial tax basis in the exercised warrants and the fair market value of the surrendered warrants. It is unclear whether a U.S. holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period would 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. holder’s holding period would commence with respect to the Class A common stock received, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.

 

If we redeem warrants for cash pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Warrants” or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction, such redemption or purchase 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 Common Stock and Warrants.” The 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 Securities —Warrants — Public Warrants” 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 common stock or as an exercise of the warrant. If the cashless exercise of a warrant for Class A common stock 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. holder’s basis in the Class A common stock received should equal the U.S. holder’s basis in the warrant and the holding period of the Class A common stock would include the holding period of the warrant. If the cashless exercise of a warrant is treated as such, the tax consequences generally should be similar to those described in the previous paragraphs. In the case of an exercise of a warrant for cash, the tax treatment generally should be as described above in the first paragraph under the heading “U.S. Holders — Exercise, 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.

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Possible Constructive Distributions. The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of common stock 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 Securities - Warrants - Public 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 warrant holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or a decrease in the exercise price of the warrant) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property, such as other securities, to the holders of shares of our common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of shares of our common stock, in each case which is taxable to the U.S. holders of such shares as a distribution. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as described under “U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions” above. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as described under that section in the same manner as if the U.S. holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest.

 

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding. In general, information reporting requirements may apply to dividends paid to a U.S. holder and to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants, unless the U.S. holder is an exempt recipient. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number, a certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn).

 

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against a U.S. holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

 

Non -U.S. Holders

 

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, shares of Class A common stock or warrants who or that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

 

  a nonresident 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 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 should consult your tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership and sale or other disposition of our securities.

 

Taxation of Distributions. In general, any distributions (including constructive distributions) we make to a Non-U.S. holder of shares of our Class A common stock, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles), will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Provided such dividends are not effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and are not attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment under an applicable treaty), we will be required to withhold tax from the gross amount of the dividend at a rate of 30%, unless such Non-U.S. holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E). In the case of any constructive dividend, it is possible that this tax would be withheld from any amount owed to a Non-U.S. holder by the applicable withholding agent, including cash distributions on other property or sale proceeds from warrants or other property subsequently paid or credited to such holder. Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing (but not below zero) the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares of our Class A common stock and, to the extent such distribution exceeds the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis, as gain realized from the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock, which will be treated as described under “Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” below. In addition, if we determine that we are likely to be classified as a “U.S. real property holding corporation” (see “Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” below), we will withhold 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits. See also “Non-U.S. Holders — Possible Constructive Distributions” for potential U.S. federal tax consequences with respect to constructive distributions.

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Dividends that we pay to a Non-U.S. holder that are effectively connected with such Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (or if a tax treaty applies, are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the Non-U.S. holder) will generally not be subject to U.S. withholding tax, provided such Non-U.S. holder complies with certain certification and disclosure requirements (usually by providing an IRS Form W-8ECI). Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident, subject to an applicable income tax treaty providing otherwise. A Non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or a lower treaty rate).

 

Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants. Subject to the discussion of FATCA and backup withholding below, a Non-U.S. holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax in respect of gain recognized on a sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock, which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our warrants), in each case without regard to whether those securities were held as part of a unit, unless:

 

  the gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by the Non-U.S. holder within the United States (and, under certain income tax treaties, is attributable to a United States permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the Non-U.S. holder); or

 

  we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of disposition or the period that the Non-U.S. holder held our Class A common stock, and, in the case where shares of our Class A common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, the Non-U.S. holder has owned, directly or constructively, more than 5% of our Class A common stock at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or such Non-U.S. holder’s holding period for the shares of our Class A common stock. There can be no assurance that our Class A common stock will be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market for this purpose.

 

Unless an applicable treaty provides otherwise, gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident. Any gains described in the first bullet point above of a Non-U.S. holder that is a foreign corporation may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate (or lower treaty rate).

 

If the second bullet point above applies to a Non-U.S. holder, gain recognized by such holder on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our Class A common stock or warrants will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, if our Class A common stock will not be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market, then a buyer of our Class A common stock or warrants from such holder may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 15% of the amount realized upon such disposition. We cannot determine whether we will be a “United States real property holding corporation” in the future until we complete an initial business combination. We will be classified as a U.S. real property holding corporation if the fair market value of our “United States real property interests” equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of the fair market value of our worldwide real property interests plus our other assets used or held for use in a trade or business, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

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Redemption of Class A Common Stock. The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a Non-U.S. holder’s Class A common stock pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Common Stock” generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. holder’s Class A common stock, as described under “U.S. Holders—Redemption of Class A Common Stock” above, and the consequences of the redemption to the Non-U.S. holder will be as described above under “Non-U.S. holders—Taxation of Distributions” and “Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants,” as applicable.

 

Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant. The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a Non-U.S. holder’s exercise of a warrant, or the lapse of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. holder, generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise or lapse of a warrant by a U.S. holder, as described under “U.S. holders—Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant” above, although to the extent a cashless exercise results in a taxable exchange, the consequences would be similar to those described above in “Non- U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.”

 

The U.S. federal income tax treatment for a Non-U.S. holder of a redemption of warrants for cash described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Warrants” (or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction) would be similar to that described above in “Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.”

 

Possible Constructive Distributions. The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution is generally not a taxable event. Nevertheless, a Non-U.S. holder of warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the holder’s proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property, such as other securities, to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock which is taxable to such holders as a distribution. Any constructive distribution received by a Non-U.S. holder would be subject to U.S. federal income tax (including any applicable withholding) in the same manner as if such Non-U.S. holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest without any corresponding receipt of cash.

 

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding. Information returns will be filed with the IRS in connection with payments of dividends and the proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our units, shares of common stock and warrants. A Non-U.S. holder may have to comply with certification procedures to establish that it is not a United States person in order to avoid information reporting and backup withholding requirements. The certification procedures required to claim a reduced rate of withholding under a treaty will satisfy the certification requirements necessary to avoid the backup withholding as well. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. The amount of any backup withholding from a payment to a Non-U.S. holder will be allowed as a credit against such holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability and may entitle such holder to a refund, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the Internal Revenue Service.

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FATCA Withholding Taxes. Provisions commonly referred to as “FATCA” impose withholding of 30% on payments of dividends (including constructive dividends) on our Class A common stock to “foreign financial institutions” (which is broadly defined for this purpose and in general includes investment vehicles) and certain other non-U.S. entities unless various U.S. information reporting and due diligence requirements (generally relating to ownership by U.S. persons of interests in or accounts with those entities) have been satisfied by, or an exemption applies to, the payee (typically certified as to by the delivery of a properly completed IRS Form W-8BEN-E). The IRS has issued proposed regulations (on which taxpayers may rely until final regulations are issued) that provide that these withholding requirements would generally not apply to gross proceeds from sales or other dispositions of our units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants. Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing FATCA may be subject to different rules. Under certain circumstances, a Non-U.S. holder might be eligible for refunds or credits of such withholding taxes, and a Non-U.S. holder might be required to file a U.S. federal income tax return to claim such refunds or credits. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the effects of FATCA on their investment in our securities.

 

THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX DISCUSSION SET FORTH ABOVE IS INCLUDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY AND MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE DEPENDING UPON A HOLDER’S PARTICULAR SITUATION. HOLDERS ARE URGED TO CONSULT THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS WITH RESPECT TO THE TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR CLASS A COMMON STOCK AND WARRANTS, INCLUDING THE TAX CONSEQUENCES UNDER STATE, 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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UNDERWRITING

 

Under the terms and subject to the conditions contained in an underwriting agreement dated                   , 2021, we have agreed to sell to the underwriters named below, for whom Barclays Capital Inc. and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. are acting as representatives, the following respective numbers of units:

 

Underwriter  Number of units 
Barclays Capital Inc.     
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.     
Total   22,500,000 

 

The underwriting agreement provides that the underwriters’ obligation to purchase units depends on the satisfaction of the conditions contained in the underwriting agreement, including:

 

• the obligation to purchase all of the units offered hereby (other than those units covered by the over-allotment option described below), if any of the units are purchased;

• the representations and warranties made by us to the underwriters are true;

• there is no material change in our business or the financial markets; and

• the delivery of customary closing documents to the underwriters.

 

Commissions and Expenses

 

The following table summarizes the underwriting discounts and commissions we will pay to the underwriters:

 

   Per unit(1)   Total(1) 
   Without
over-allotment
   With
over-allotment
   Without
over-allotment
   With
over-allotment
 
Underwriting Discounts and Commissions paid by us  $0.55   $0.55   $12,375,000   $14,231,250 

 

(1) Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,875,000 (or $9,056,250 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate, payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus. Such amounts will be paid from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination, or if due prior to the completion of the initial business combination.

 

If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering the underwriters have agreed that (i) they will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account and (ii) that the deferred underwriting commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, together with any accrued interest thereon to the public stockholders.

 

Units sold by the underwriters to the public will initially be offered at the public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus and to selected dealers, which may include the underwriters, at such offering price less a selling concession not in excess of $      per unit. If all the units are not sold at the initial offering price following the initial offering, the representatives may change the offering price and other selling terms. The offering of the units by the underwriters is subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriters’ right to reject any order in whole or in part.

 

The expenses of the offering that are payable by us are estimated to be approximately $1,200,000. We have agreed to pay for certain expenses of the underwriters, including the FINRA-related fees of the underwriters’ legal counsel, not to exceed aggregate reimbursement of $75,000.

 

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Option to Purchase Additional Units

 

If the underwriters sell more than 22,500,000 units, we have granted the underwriters an option exercisable for 45 days after the date of this prospectus to purchase, from time to time, in whole or in part, up to an aggregate of 3,375,000 units from us at the public offering price less underwriting discounts and commissions. The underwriters may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, in connection with this offering. To the extent that this option is exercised, each underwriter will be obligated, subject to certain conditions, to purchase its pro rata portion of these additional units based on the underwriter’s percentage underwriting commitment in the offering as indicated in the table at the beginning of this Underwriting section.

 

Letter Agreements

 

We, our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that we and they will not, subject to certain exceptions, for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, (i) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, or file with, or submit to, the SEC a registration statement under the Securities Act relating to any units, shares of common stock, founder shares, warrants or any securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, any units, common stock, founder shares, or warrants, or publicly disclose the intention to undertake any of the foregoing, or (ii) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any units, shares of common stock, founder shares, or warrants or any such other securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of units or such other securities, in cash or otherwise, without the prior written consent of Barclays Capital Inc. and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., except, in each case, that we may (1) issue and sell the 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 concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the resale of the founder shares, the placement units and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issued or issuable upon exercise of any such placement units or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares); and (4) issue securities in connection with our 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 current or future independent directors of the company (as long as such current or future independent director is subject to the terms of the letter agreement applicable to the initial stockholders with respect to such founder shares 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 of the transfer). Barclays Capital Inc. and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. in their sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.

 

Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares.

 

The placement units (including the shares Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the placement units) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination

 

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Offering Price Determination

 

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 representatives.

 

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 common stock 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 common stock or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.

 

Indemnification

 

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, and to contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make for these liabilities.

 

Stabilization, Short Positions and Penalty Bids

 

In connection with this offering, the representatives 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 representatives 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 Nasdaq Capital Market or otherwise and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

 

Neither we nor any of the underwriters make any representation or prediction as to the direction or magnitude of any effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of the units. In addition, neither we nor any of the underwriters make any representation that the representatives will engage in these stabilizing transactions or that any transaction, once commenced, will not be discontinued without notice.

 

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Electronic Distribution

 

A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the websites maintained by one or more of the underwriters and/or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering and one or more of the underwriters participating in this offering may distribute prospectuses electronically. The representatives may agree to allocate a number of units to underwriters and selling group members for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the underwriters and selling group members that will make internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations.

 

Other than the prospectus in electronic format, the information on any underwriter’s or selling group member’s web site and any information contained in any other web site maintained by an underwriter or selling group member is not part of the prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, has not been approved and/or endorsed by us or any underwriter or selling group member in its capacity as underwriter or selling group member and should not be relied upon by investors.

 

Listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market

 

We expect our units to be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, under the symbol “UNOOU” and, once the Class A common stock and warrants begin separate trading, to have our Class A common stock and warrants listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbols “UNOO” and “UNOOW,” respectively.

 

Stamp Taxes

 

If you purchase units offered in this prospectus, you may be required to pay stamp taxes and other charges under the laws and practices of the country of purchase, in addition to the offering price listed on the cover page of this prospectus.

 

Other Relationships

 

We are not under any contractual obligation to engage any of the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, any of the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future. If any of the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay such underwriter fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with any of the underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to any of the underwriters 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, and we may pay the underwriters of this offering or any entity with which they are affiliated, a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination.

 

The underwriters and certain of their affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include securities trading, commercial and investment banking, financial  advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, financing and brokerage activities. The underwriters and certain of their affiliates have, from time to time, performed, and may in the future perform, various commercial and investment banking and financial advisory services for the issuer and its affiliates, for which they received or may in the future receive customary fees and expenses.

 

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, and 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.

 

Selling Restrictions

 

This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell to, or a solicitation of an offer to buy from, anyone in any country or jurisdiction (i) in which such an offer or solicitation is not authorized, (ii) in which any person making such offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so or (iii) in which any such offer or solicitation would otherwise be unlawful. No action has been taken that would, or is intended to, permit a public offer of the units or possession or distribution of this prospectus or any other offering or publicity material relating to the units in any country or jurisdiction (other than the United States) where any such action for that purpose is required. Accordingly, each underwriter has undertaken that it will not, directly or indirectly, offer or sell any units or have in its possession, distribute or publish any prospectus, form of application, advertisement or other document or information in any country or jurisdiction except under circumstances that will, to the best of its knowledge and belief, result in compliance with any applicable laws and regulations and all offers and sales of units by it will be made on the same terms.

 

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European Economic Area and the United Kingdom

 

The units are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the EEA. For these purposes, the expression “retail investor” has the meaning given to it in Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014, as amended (the PRIIPs Regulation). This prospectus is not a prospectus for the purposes of the Prospectus Regulation (as defined below). This prospectus and any offer if made subsequently is directed only at persons in Member States of the European Economic Area (the “EEA”) or in the United Kingdom (each, a “Relevant State”) who are “qualified investors” within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation. This prospectus has been prepared on the basis that any offer of units in any Relevant State will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Regulation from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of the units. Accordingly any person making or intending to make an offer in that Relevant State of the units which are the subject of the offering contemplated in this prospectus may only do so in circumstances in which no obligation arises for the company or any of the underwriters to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation in relation to such offer. Neither the company nor the underwriters have authorized, nor do they authorize, the making of any offer of units in circumstances in which an obligation arises for the company or the underwriters to publish a prospectus for such offer.

 

In relation to each Relevant State, no units which are the subject of the offering contemplated by this prospectus to the public may be made in that Relevant State other than:

 

(a)to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under the Prospectus Regulation;
(b)to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives for any such offer; or 
(c)in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation,

 

provided that no such offer of units shall require the issuer or any underwriter to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation.

 

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any units in any Relevant State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any units, and the expression “Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.

 

United Kingdom

 

This prospectus may not be distributed or circulated to any person in the United Kingdom other than to (i) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the “Order”); and (ii) high net worth entities falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). This prospectus is directed only at relevant persons. Other persons should not act on this prospectus or any of its contents. This prospectus is confidential and is being supplied to you solely for your information and may not be reproduced, redistributed or passed on to any other person or published, in whole or in part, for any other purpose.

 

Any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the United Kingdom’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended (the “FSMA”)) in connection with the issue or sale of the units may only be communicated or caused to be communicated in circumstances in which Section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply to the company.

 

All applicable provisions of the FSMA must be complied with in respect to anything done by any person in relation to the units in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom.

 

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Japan

 

Our units have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948, as amended, the “FIEA”) and, accordingly, the underwriters will not offer or sell any of our units directly or indirectly in Japan or to, or for the account or benefit of any Japanese person or to, or for the account or benefit of, others, for re-offering or re-sale directly or indirectly in Japan or to, or for the account or benefit of, any Japanese person, except in each case pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the FIEA and any other applicable laws and regulations of Japan. For purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese person” means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.

 

Hong Kong

 

Please be warned that the contents of this prospectus have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Hong Kong. You are advised to exercise caution in relation to this offering. If you are in any doubt about any of the contents of this prospectus, you should obtain independent professional advice.

 

This offering is not intended to be an offer for sale to the public in Hong Kong and it is not the intention of the company or the underwriters or any of their respective representatives that the securities be offered for sale to the public in Hong Kong. Accordingly, this prospectus may not be issued, circulated or distributed in Hong Kong, and the securities may not be offered for subscription to members of the public in Hong Kong.

 

The securities have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold in Hong Kong, by means of any document other than: (i) to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (the “SFO”) and any rules made under that ordinance; or (ii) in other circumstances which do not result in this prospectus being a “prospectus” as defined in the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Chapter 32 of the Laws of Hong Kong) or which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of that ordinance. Further, no person has issued or had in its possession for the purposes of issue, nor will issue or have in its possession for the purposes of issue, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere, any advertisement, invitation or document relating to this offering or the securities 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 those 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 SFO and any rules made under that ordinance.

 

This prospectus and the information contained herein may not be used other than by the person to whom it is addressed and may not be reproduced in any form or transferred to any person in Hong Kong.

 

Each person acquiring the securities will be required, and is deemed by the acquisition of the securities, to confirm that they are aware of the restriction on offers of the securities described in this prospectus and the relevant offering documents and that they are not acquiring, and have not been offered any securities in circumstances that contravene any such restrictions.

 

Singapore

 

This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus under the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (“SFA”) by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the offer of the units is made primarily pursuant to an exemption under the SFA. Accordingly, the units may not be offered or sold, or made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, nor may this prospectus or any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase of the units be circulated or distributed, whether directly or indirectly, to any person in Singapore other than: (a) to an institutional investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA); or (b) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with, the conditions of any other applicable exemption or provision of the SFA.

 

Notification under Section 309B of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore

 

The units are prescribed capital markets products (as defined in the Securities and Futures (Capital Markets Products) Regulations 2018 and Excluded Investment Products (as defined in MAS Notice SFA 04-N12: Notice on the Sale of Investment Products and MAS Notice FAA-N16: Notice on Recommendations on Investment Products).

 

Australia

 

No prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document has been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”), in relation to the offering. This prospectus does not constitute a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act 2001 (the “Corporations Act”), and does not purport to include the information required for a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act.

 

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Any offer in Australia of the units may only be made to persons (the “Exempt Investors”) who are “sophisticated investors” (within the meaning of section 708(8) of the Corporations Act), “professional investors” (within the meaning of section 708(11) of the Corporations Act) and in each case who are “wholesale clients” (within the meaning of section 761G of the Corporations Act) so that it is lawful to offer the units without disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D or Part 7.9 of the Corporations Act.

 

The units applied for by Exempt Investors in Australia must not be offered for sale in Australia in the period of 12 months after the date of allotment under the offering, except in circumstances where disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D or Part 7.9 of the Corporations Act would not be required pursuant to an exemption under sections 708 or 1012DA of the Corporations Act or otherwise or where the offer is pursuant to a disclosure document which complies with Chapter 6D or Part 7.9 of the Corporations Act (as applicable). Any person acquiring units must observe such Australian on-sale restrictions.

 

This prospectus contains general information only and does not take account of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. It does not contain any securities recommendations or financial product advice. Before making an investment decision, investors need to consider whether the information in this prospectus is appropriate to their needs, objectives and circumstances, and, if necessary, seek expert advice on those matters.

 

Any offer will be made, and any financial services in connection with the units will be provided, in Australia by Barclays Capital Inc. or its representatives. Barclays Capital Inc. is exempt from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services license in respect of the financial services being provided by it. Barclays Capital Inc. is regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under United States laws, which differ from Australian laws.

 

Germany

 

This prospectus does not constitute a prospectus for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129, the German Securities Prospectus Act (Wertpapierprospektgesetz) or the German Investment Products Act (Vermoegensanlagegesetzbuch). With respect to our units no prospectus has been, or will be, notified to, filed with, or approved by the German Federal Authority for Financial Services Supervision (Bundesanstalt fuer Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht) or any other competent authority pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/1129, the German Securities Prospectus Act (Wertpapierprospektgesetz) or the German Investment Products Act (Vermoegensanlagegesetzbuch).

 

France

 

The units may not be offered or sold or caused to be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France and neither this offering circular, which has not been submitted to the clearance procedure of the French Autorité des marchés financiers, or the AMF, nor to a competent authority of another Member State of the European Economic Area that would have notified its approval to the AMF under the EU Prospectus Directive 2003/71/EC as implemented in France and in the relevant Member State, nor any other offering material or information contained therein relating to the units, may be released, issued or distributed or caused to be released, issued or distributed, directly or indirectly, to the public in France, or used in connection with any offer for subscription, exchange or sale of the units to the public in France.

 

Any such offers, sales and distributions may be made in France only to (i) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) and/or a restricted circle of investors (cercle restreint d’investisseurs), provided that these investors are acting for their own account, as defined in, and in accordance with, Articles L.411-2, II, 2 and D.411-1, D 411-4, D.744-1, D.754-1 and D.764-1 of the French Code monétaire et financier and in compliance with article 212-30 of the General Regulations of the AMF, (ii) financial service providers offering portfolio management investment service for third-parties (personnes fournissant le service de gestion de portefeuille pour compte de tiers), or (iii) in a transaction that, conforming with article L.411-2-I-1, 2 or 3 of the French Code monétaire et financier and article 211-2 of the General Regulations of the AMF, does not constitute a public offering in France.

 

In the event that the units purchased or subscribed by investors listed above are offered or resold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France, the conditions relating to public offers set forth in Articles L. 411-1, L. 411-2, L. 412-1 and L. 621-8 to L. 621-8-3 of the French Code monétaire et financier must be complied with. Investors in France and persons into whose possession offering materials come must inform themselves about, and observe, any such restrictions.

 

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Canada

 

The units may be sold only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of the units must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.

 

Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchase within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.

 

Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (“NI 33-105”), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.

 

Switzerland

 

This prospectus is not intended to constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase or invest in the securities. The securities may not be publicly offered, directly or indirectly, in Switzerland within the meaning of the Swiss Financial Services Act (“FinSA”) and no application has or will be made to admit the securities shares to trading on any trading venue (exchange or multilateral trading facility) in Switzerland. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the securities constitutes a prospectus pursuant to the FinSA, and neither this prospectus nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the securities may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.

 

United Arab Emirates

 

The offering of the units has not been approved or licensed by the UAE Central Bank, the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (the “SCA”), the Dubai Financial Services Authority (the “DFSA”) or any other relevant licensing authorities in the United Arab Emirates (the “UAE”), and accordingly does not constitute a public offer of securities in the UAE in accordance with the commercial companies law, Federal Law No. 2 of 2015 (as amended), SCA Resolution No. 3 of 2017 Regulating Promotions and Introductions or otherwise. Accordingly, the units may not be offered to the public in the UAE (including the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)).

 

This prospectus is strictly private and confidential and is being issued to a limited number of institutional and individual investors:

 

(a)who meet the criteria of a Qualified Investor as defined in SCA Resolution No. 3 of 2017 (except natural persons) or who otherwise qualify as sophisticated investors;
(b)upon their request and confirmation that they understand that the securities have not been approved or licensed by or registered with the UAE Central Bank, the SCA, the DFSA or any other relevant licensing authorities or governmental agencies in the UAE; and
(c)must not be provided to any person other than the original recipient, and may not be reproduced or used for any other purpose.

 

Dubai International Financial Centre

 

This prospectus relates to an Exempt Offer in accordance with the Markets Rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

 

This prospectus is intended for distribution only to Professional Clients who are not natural persons. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person.

 

The Dubai Financial Services Authority has no responsibility for reviewing or verifying any documents in connection with Exempt Offers. The Dubai Financial Services Authority has not approved this document nor taken steps to verify the information set out in it, and has no responsibility for it.

 

The securities to which this document relates may be illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective purchasers of the securities offered should conduct their own due diligence on the securities.

 

If you do not understand the contents of this document you should consult an authorized financial adviser.

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

 

Reed Smith LLP is acting as counsel in connection with the registration of our securities under the Securities Act, and as such, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to units and warrants. In connection with this offering, Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP is acting as counsel to the underwriters.

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EXPERTS

 

The financial statements of 1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. as of March 2, 2021, and for period from February 22, 2021 (inception) through March 2, 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.

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WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.

 

Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

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1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

    Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm   F-2
Balance Sheet   F-3
Statement of Operations   F-4
Statement of Changes in Stockholder’s Equity   F-5
Statement of Cash Flows   F-6
Notes to Financial Statements   F-7

F-1

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

To the Stockholder and the Board of Directors of

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp.

 

Opinion on the Financial Statements

 

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of 1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of March 2, 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholder’s equity and cash flows for the period from February 22, 2021 (inception) through March 2, 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 March 2, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from February 22, 2021 (inception) through March 2, 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 Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

 

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

 

Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC

 

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.

 

New York, New York

March 12, 2021

 

F-2

 

1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

BALANCE SHEET

March 2, 2021

 

CURRENT ASSETS     
Stock subscription receivable  $25,000 
      
Total current assets   25,000 
      
OTHER ASSETS     
Deferred offering costs   10,000 
      
TOTAL ASSETS  $35,000 
      
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY     
      
CURRENT LIABILITIES     
Accounts payable and accrued expenses  $1,000 
Accrued offereing costs   10,000 
Total liabilities   11,000 
      
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES     
      
STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY     
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding   - 
Class A Common stock; $0.0001 par value; 115,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding   - 
Class B Common stock; $0.0001 par value; 15,000,000 shares authorized; 6,643,750 issued and outstanding   664 
Additional paid-in capital   24,336 
Accumulated deficit   (1,000)
      
Total stockholder’s equity   24,000 
      
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND     
STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY  $35,000 
      

 

(1) This number includes an aggregate of up to 843,750 shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.

 

F-3

 

1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE PERIOD FROM FEBRUARY 22, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH MARCH 2, 2021

 

EXPENSES     
Organizational costs  $1,000 
      
Total expenses   1,000 
      
NET LOSS  $(1,000)
      
WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING, BASIC AND DILUTED (1)   5,800,000 
      
BASIC AND DILUTED NET LOSS PER COMMON SHARE  ($0.00)
      

 

(1) This number excludes an aggregate of up to 843,750 shares subject to forfeiture if the overallotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.

F-4

 

1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

FOR THE PERIOD FROM FEBRUARY 22, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH MARCH 2, 2021

 

   Common stock   Additional       Total 
   Class A   Class B   paid-in   Accumulated   stockholder’s 
   Shares   Amount   Shares   Amount   capital   deficit   equity 
Balance, February 22, 2021 (inception)           -   $        -    -   $-   $-   $-   $- 
                                    
Issuance of Class B Common stock to Sponsor (1)   -    -    6,643,750    664    24,336    -    25,000 
                                    
Net loss   -    -    -         -    (1,000)   (1,000)
                                    
Balance, March 2, 2021   -   $-    6,643,750   $664   $24,336   $(1,000)  $24,000 

 

(1) This number includes an aggregate of up to 843,750 shares subject to forfeiture if the overallotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.

F-5

 

1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE PERIOD FROM FEBRUARY 22, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH MARCH 02, 2021

 

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES     
Net loss  $(1,000)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:     
Accounts payable and accrued expenses   1,000 
      
Net cash flows used in operating activities   - 
      
NET CHANGE IN CASH   - 
      
CASH, BEGINNING OF PERIOD   - 
      
CASH, END OF PERIOD  $- 
      
Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities:     
Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering costs  $10,000 
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor in exchange for stock subscription receivable  $25,000 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.

F-6

 

1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

 

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

 

 

Note 1 — Description of Organization and Business Operations

 

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on February 22, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). Although the Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination, the Company intends to focus its search on industries that complement our management team’s background, and to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a technology business related to the verticals of real estate (“PropTech”) or financial services (“FinTech”), as well as the adjacent industries that collectively contribute to the ability of people to enjoy, improve, conserve, interact, and access the world around them. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.

 

As of March 2, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from February 22, 2021 (inception) through March 2, 2021 relates to the Company’s 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 on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.

 

The Company’s sponsor is 1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a proposed public offering (the “Proposed Public Offering”) of 22,500,000 units (each, a “Unit” and collectively, the “Units”) at $10.00 per Unit (or 25,875,000 units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 700,000 units (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 Company’s 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 Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete 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 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 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management has agreed that an amount equal to at least $10.00 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”), located in the United States at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, 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.

F-7

 

The Company will provide its holders of the outstanding shares of its Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 (“Class A common stock”), sold in the Proposed Public Offering (the “public stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Share upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares (as defined below in Note 3) for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share). The per-share amount to be distributed to public stockholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 5). These Public Shares will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“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 stockholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transactions is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder 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 stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the initial stockholders (as defined below) have agreed to vote its Founder 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. Subsequent to the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering, the Company will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to: (i) refrain from purchasing shares during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (ii) to clear all trades with the Company’s legal counsel prior to execution. In addition, the initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and Public Shares in connection with the completion of a Business Combination.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Certificate of Incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 20% or more of the Class A common stock sold in the Proposed Public Offering, without the prior consent of the Company.

 

The Company’s Sponsor, officers and directors (the “initial stockholders”) have agreed not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination, unless the Company provides the public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock in conjunction with any such amendment.

 

If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (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 us to pay the Company’s franchise and 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

F-8

 

The initial stockholders 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 initial stockholders should 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 its deferred underwriting commission (see Note 5) 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 $10.00 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 vendor 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 Company’s 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, 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.

 

Emerging Growth Company

 

Section 102(b)(1) of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard.

 

This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statement 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.

 

Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

 

Basis of Presentation

 

The accompanying financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.

F-9

 

The Company does not have sufficient liquidity to meet its anticipated obligations over the next year form the date of issuance of these financial statements. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15,“Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern”, management has determined that the Company has access to funds from the Sponsor that are sufficient to fund the working capital needs of the Company until the earlier of the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering and one year from the date of the issuance of these financial statements.

 

Net Loss Per Common Share

 

The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Net loss per common share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Weighted average common shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 843,750 shares of Class B common stock that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters (Note 5). At March 2, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into shares of common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per common share is the same as basic loss per common share for the period presented.

 

Concentration of Credit Risk

 

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the federal depository insurance coverage of $250,000. At March 2, 2021, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.

 

Financial Instruments

 

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under the FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet, primarily due to their short term nature.

 

Use of Estimates

 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

 

Income Taxes

 

The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. Deferred taxes were deemed to be diminumis at March 2, 2021.

 

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 March 2, 2021. 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 for the period from February 22, 2021 (date of inception) to March 2, 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.

F-10

 

The provision for income taxes was deemed to be de minimis for the period from February 22, 2021 (inception) through March 2, 2021.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

The Company’s management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

 

Deferred Offering Costs Associated with the Proposed Public Offering

 

Deferred offering costs will consist of direct costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering and that will be charged to stockholder’s equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. Should the Proposed Public Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses to be incurred, will be charged to operations. At March 2, 2021 has incurred approximately $10,000 of deferred offering costs.

 

Subsequent Events

 

The Company has evaluated subsequent events that occurred after the balance sheet date through March 12, 2021, which was the date these financial statements were available for issuance and determined that, other than described below there were no significant unrecognized events through that date would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.

 

The Company’s $25,000 stock subscription receivable was collected on March 12, 2021.

 

Note 3 — Public Offering

 

Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale 22,500,000 units at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock (such shares of Class A common stock included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), and one-third of a redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 6).

 

Note 4 — Related Party Transactions

 

Founder Shares

 

In February 2021, the Sponsor purchased 6,643,750 shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 (“Class B common stock”) for an aggregate price of $25,000, which was subsequently paid by the Sponsor on March 4, 2021. Accordingly, as of March 2, 2021, the $25,000 payment due to the Company is recorded as a stock subscription receivable in the accompanying balance sheet. The Founder Shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the Company’s initial Business Combination and are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in Note 6. Holders of Founder Shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment, at any time. The initial stockholders have agreed to forfeit up to 843,750 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters. The forfeiture will be adjusted to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters so that the Founder Shares will represent 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering. If the Company increases or decreases the size of the offering, the Company will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering in such amount as to maintain the Founder Share ownership of the Company’s stockholders prior to the Proposed Public Offering at 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock upon the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering.

 

F-11

 

The initial stockholders will agree, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of its Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

 

Related Party Loans

 

On February 25, 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 March 2, 2021, the Company had no borrowings under the Note.

 

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants.

 

Note 5 — Private Placement Warrants

 

Private Placement

 

The Sponsor has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 700,000 Private Placement Units at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000, in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. Each whole Private Placement Unit will consist one Placement Share and one-third of a redeemable warrant (“Placement Warrant”). Each whole Placement Warrant will be exercisable to purchase one Class A common share at a price of $11.50 per share. The proceeds from the Placement Units will be added to the proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering to be held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Placement Units will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law), and the Placement Units and all underlying securities will be worthless.

 

Note 6 — Commitments & Contingencies

 

Registration Rights

 

The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any, will be entitled to registration rights (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion of such shares to shares of Class A common stock) pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed on or before the date of the prospectus for the Proposed Public Offering. These holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the termination of the applicable lock-up period for the securities to be registered. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

F-12

 

Underwriting Agreement

 

The Company will grant the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to 3,375,000 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 $4,500,000 in the aggregate (or $5,175,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), payable upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. $0.35 per unit, or $7,875,000 in the aggregate (or $9,056,250 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. A portion of the deferred underwriting commission may be allocated to third parties at the discretion of the Sponsor.

 

Risks and Uncertainties

 

Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of 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 adjustment that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

Note 7 — Stockholder’s Equity

 

Common stock

 

Class A Common stock — The Company is authorized to issue 115,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of March 2, 2021, there were no shares of Class A common stock issued or outstanding.

 

Class B Common stock — The Company is authorized to issue 15,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. As of March 2, 2021, there were 6,643,750 shares of Class B common stock outstanding. Of the 6,643,750 shares of Class B common stock, an aggregate of up to 843,750 shares subject to forfeiture to the Company by the Sponsor for no consideration to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that the initial stockholders will collectively own 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock after the Proposed Public Offering.

 

Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of stockholders except as required by law.

 

The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the initial Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the Proposed Public Offering and related to the closing of the initial Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination and any private placement-equivalent warrants issued to the Sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to the Company). Holders of Founder Shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time.

F-13

 

Preferred Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of March 2, 2021, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

 

Warrants

 

The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination or (b) 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. At March 2, 2021 there were no warrants outstanding. No warrants will be exercisable for cash unless the Company has an effective and current registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to such shares of common stock. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of a Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the Public Warrants:

 

•              in whole and not in part;

 

•              at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

•              upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption;

 

•              if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the shares of common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations), for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period commencing at any time after the warrants become exercisable and ending on the third business day prior to the notice of redemption to warrant holders; and

 

 •             if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of common stock underlying the warrants.

 

 If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement.

 

The Private Warrants will be identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering, except that the Private Warrants and the shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Warrants will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, at the holder’s option, and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.

 

The exercise price and number of shares of common stock issuable on exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, extraordinary dividend or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of shares of common stock at a price below their respective exercise prices. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.

F-14

 

In addition, if the Company issues additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of a Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company’s board of directors, and in the case of any such issuance to the initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by them prior to such issuance), (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 a Business Combination on the date of the consummation of a Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Company’s common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates 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 greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the price at which the Company issues the additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities.

F-15

 

$225,000,000

 

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp.

 

22,500,000 Units

 

 

 

PROSPECTUS

 

 

                             , 2021

Joint Book-Running Managers

Barclays   Cantor

 

Until             , 2021, all dealers that buy, sell or trade these securities, 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 their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

 

 

PART II

 

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

 

Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.

 

The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:

 

SEC filing fee  $28,230 
FINRA filing fee   39,313 
Accounting fees and expenses   45,000 
Printing and engraving expenses   40,000 
Legal fees and expenses   250,000 
NASDAQ Capital Market fees   75,000 
Travel and roadshow   20,000 
Directors and officers insurance   650,000 
Miscellaneous expenses(1)   52,457 
Total  $1,200,000 

 

(1)This amount represents additional expenses that may be incurred by us in connection with the offering over and above those specifically listed above, including distribution and mailing costs, transfer agent fees, warrant agent fees and trustee fees.

 

Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that all of our directors, officers, employees and agents will be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law.

 

Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law concerning indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents is set forth below.

 

Section 145. Indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents; insurance.

 

  (a) A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust account or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful.

153

 

  (b) A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust account or other enterprise against expenses including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.

 

  (c) To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith.

 

  (d) Any indemnification under subsections (a) and (b) of this section (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because the person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer at the time of such determination, (1) by a majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (2) by a committee of such directors designated by majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, or (4) by the stockholders.

 

  (e) Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by former directors and officers or other employees and agents may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the corporation deems appropriate.

 

  (f) The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office.

 

  (g) A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust account or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under this section.

154

 

  (h) For purposes of this section, references to “the corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as such person would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued.

 

  (i) For purposes of this section, references to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this section.

 

  (j) The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.

 

  (k) The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all actions for advancement of expenses or indemnification brought under this section or under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Court of Chancery may summarily determine a corporation’s obligation to advance expenses (including attorneys’ fees).

 

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to the court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

The Corporation, to the full extent permitted by Section 145 of the DGCL, as amended from time to time, shall indemnify all persons whom it may indemnify pursuant thereto. Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which such officer or director may be entitled to indemnification hereunder shall be paid by the Corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that he is not entitled to be indemnified by the Corporation as authorized hereby.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide for the indemnification of our directors, officers or other persons, and permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We will 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.

 

We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

155

 

Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement, a form of which is filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this Registration Statement, we have agreed to indemnify the underwriters, and the underwriters have agreed to indemnify us, against certain civil liabilities that may be incurred in connection with this offering, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.

 

Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.

 

In February 2021, our sponsor purchased 6,643,750 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon completion of this offering. Such securities were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Our sponsor is an accredited investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D.

 

In addition, our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase from us 700,000 placement units at $10.00 per unit (for an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000). This purchase will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the completion of our initial public offering. This issuance will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

 

No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.

 

In addition, if we increase the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we may effect a stock dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain our sponsor’s collective ownership of founder shares at 20% of the aggregate of our founder shares and our public shares upon consummation of the offering. If we decrease the size of the offering, we expect to effect a reverse split of our common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain our sponsor’s collective ownership of founder shares at 20% of the aggregate of our founder shares and our public shares upon the date of this prospectus. Any such increased number of shares will be subject to forfeiture in the event that the underwriters’ overallotment option is not exercised in full. Any such decreased number of shares will be forfeited, with the remainder subject to forfeiture in the event that the underwriters’ overallotment option is not exercised in full.

 

Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

 

Exhibit No.   Description
1.1   Form of Underwriting Agreement.**
3.1(a)   Certificate of Incorporation filed February 22, 2021.*
3.1(b)   Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.**
3.2   Bylaws.*
4.1   Specimen Unit Certificate.**
4.2   Specimen Class A Common Stock Certificate.*
4.3   Specimen Warrant Certificate (included in Exhibit 4.4).**
4.4   Form of Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.**
5.1   Opinion of Reed Smith LLP **
10.1   Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.**
10.2   Form of Registration Rights Agreement among the Registrant and security holders.**
10.3   Form of Placement Unit Subscription Agreement with 1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor LLC.**
10.4   Form of Letter Agreement by and between the Registrant, the Registrant’s security holders named therein, and the officers and directors of the Registrant.**
10.5   Form of Indemnity Agreement.**
10.6   Promissory Note dated February 25, 2021, for expenses prior to initial public offering expenses from 1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor LLC to Registrant.*
14.1   Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.*
23.1   Consent of WithumSmith+Brown.*

156

 

23.2   Consent of Reed Smith LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1).**
24.1   Powers of Attorney (included on signature page of the Registration Statement).*
99.1   Form of Audit Committee Charter.**
99.2   Form of Compensation Committee Charter.**
99.3   Consent of Charles E. Haldeman, Jr.*
99.4   Consent of Jacob Seid.*
99.5   Consent of Suzanne Klahr.*
99.6   Consent of Richard J Boyle, Jr.*

 

*Filed herewith
**To be filed by amendment.

157

 

Item 17. Undertakings.

 

  (a) The undersigned hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriters at the closing specified in the underwriting agreement, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriters to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.

 

  (b) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

  (c) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

 

  (1) For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.

 

  (2) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

  (3) For the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser, if the registrant is subject to Rule 430C, each prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) as part of a registration statement relating to an offering, other than registration statements relying on Rule 430B or other than prospectuses filed in reliance on Rule 430A, shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the date it is first used after effectiveness. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such first use, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such date of first use.

 

  (4) For the purpose of determining liability of a registrant under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of an undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:

 

  (i) Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;

 

  (ii) Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by an undersigned registrant;

158

 

  (iii) The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and

 

  (iv) Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.

159

 

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 Piedmont, State of California on this 12th day of March, 2021.

 

  1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.
   
  By: /s/ Gregor Watson
  Name: Gregor Watson
  Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each of the undersigned constitutes and appoints Gregor Watson and Rob Bloemker, acting alone, his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for such person and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign this Registration Statement on Form S-1 (including all pre-effective and post-effective amendments and registration statements filed pursuant to Rule 462 under the Securities Act of 1933), and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the SEC, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent, acting alone, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming that such attorney-in-fact and agent, or his substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

 

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/ Gregor Watson   Chief Executive Officer and Director   March 12, 2021
Gregor Watson   (Principal Executive Officer)    
         
/s/ Rob Bloemker   Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director   March 12, 2021
Rob Bloemker   (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)    

160

EX-3.1A 2 tm2192661d1_ex3-1a.htm EXHIBIT 3.1A

 

Exhibit 3.1a

 

CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
OF

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp.

 

February 19, 2021

 

The undersigned, for the purposes of forming and organizing a corporation under the provisions of and subject to the requirements of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as amended from time to time (the “DGCL”), hereby certifies as follows:

 

ARTICLE I
NAME

 

The name of the corporation is 1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. (the “Corporation”).

 

ARTICLE II
REGISTERED AGENT

 

The address of the Corporation’s registered office in the State of Delaware is 1013 Centre Road, Suite 403-B, in the City of Wilmington, County of New Castle, State of Delaware, 19805, and the name of the Corporation’s registered agent at such address is Vcorp Services, LLC.

 

ARTICLE III
pURPOSE

 

The nature of the business or purposes to be conducted or promoted by the Corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which corporations may be organized under the DGCL.

 

ARTICLE IV
CAPITALIZATION

 

Section 4.01         Authorized Capital Stock. The total number of shares of all classes of capital stock, each with a par value of $0.0001 per share, which the Corporation is authorized to issue is 131,000,000 shares, consisting of (a) 130,000,000 shares of common stock (the “Common Stock”), including (i) 115,000,000 shares of Class A common stock (the “Class A Common Stock”), and (ii) 15,000,000 shares of Class B common stock (the “Class B Common Stock”), and (b) 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock (the “Preferred Stock”).

 

Section 4.02        Preferred Stock. The board of directors of the Corporation (the “Board”) is expressly authorized to provide, out of the unissued shares of the Preferred Stock, one or more series of Preferred Stock. With respect to each such series of Preferred Stock, the Board is expressly authorized to establish the number of shares of Preferred Stock constituting such series in each such series and to fix the voting rights, designations, powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional, special and other rights, if any, and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, as shall be stated in the resolution or resolutions adopted by the Board providing for the issuance of such series of Preferred Stock and included in a certificate of designation (a “Preferred Stock Designation”) filed pursuant to the DGCL. The Board is expressly vested with the authority, to the full extent provided by the DGCL, to adopt any such resolution or resolutions.

 

 

 

Section 4.03          Common Stock.

 

(a)           Voting.

 

(i)            Except as otherwise required by law or this certificate of incorporation (including any Preferred Stock Designation) (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), the holders of shares of Common Stock shall exclusively possess all voting power with respect to the Corporation.

 

(ii)            Except as otherwise required by law or this Certificate of Incorporation (including any Preferred Stock Designation), the holders of shares of Common Stock shall be entitled to one vote for each such share on each matter properly submitted to the stockholders on which the holders of shares of Common Stock are entitled to vote.

 

(iii)          Except as otherwise required by law or this Certificate of Incorporation (including any Preferred Stock Designation), at any annual or special meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation, holders of the Class A Common Stock and holders of the Class B Common Stock, voting together as a single class, shall have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors and on all other matters properly submitted to a vote of the stockholders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, except as otherwise required by law or this Certificate of Incorporation (including any Preferred Stock Designation), holders of shares of any class of Common Stock shall not be entitled to vote on any amendment to this Certificate of Incorporation (including any amendment to any Preferred Stock Designation) that relates solely to the terms of one or more outstanding series of Preferred Stock or other class of Common Stock if the holders of such affected series of Preferred Stock or class of Common Stock, as applicable, are entitled, either separately or together with the holders of one or more other such series, to vote thereon pursuant to this Certificate of Incorporation (including any Preferred Stock Designation) or the DGCL.

 

(b)            Class B Common Stock.

 

(i)            Initial Conversion Ratio. Shares of Class B Common Stock shall be convertible into shares of Class A Common Stock on a one-for-one basis (the “Initial Conversion Ratio”) automatically upon the consummation of the Corporation’s initial merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”).

 

(ii)           Adjustment to Initial Conversion Ratio. Notwithstanding the Initial Conversion Ratio, in the case that additional shares of Class A Common Stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts sold in the Corporation’s initial public offering of securities and related to the closing of the initial Business Combination, all issued and outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock shall automatically convert into shares of Class A Common Stock at the time of the closing of the initial Business Combination at a ratio for which:

 

(1)            the numerator shall be equal to the sum of (A) 25% of all shares of Class A Common Stock issued or issuable (upon the conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or otherwise) by the Corporation, related to or in connection with the consummation of the initial Business Combination (excluding any securities issued or issuable to any seller in the initial Business Combination) plus (B) the number of shares of Class B Common Stock issued and outstanding prior to the closing of the initial Business Combination; and

 

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(2)            the denominator shall be the number of shares of Class B Common Stock issued and outstanding prior to the closing of the initial Business Combination.

 

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, (A) the adjustment to the Initial Conversion Ratio provided in this Section 4.03(b)(ii) may be waived as to any particular issuance or deemed issuance of additional shares of Class A Common Stock or equity-linked securities by the written consent or agreement of holders of a majority of the shares of Class B Common Stock then outstanding consenting or agreeing separately as a single class in the manner provided in Section 4.03(b)(iii) and (B) in no event shall the Class B Common Stock convert into Class A Common Stock at a ratio that is less than one-for-one.

 

The adjustment to the Initial Conversion Ratio provided in this Section 4.03(b)(ii) shall also be adjusted to account for any subdivision (by stock split, subdivision, exchange, stock dividend, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) or combination (by reverse stock split, exchange, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) or similar reclassification or recapitalization of the outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock into a greater or lesser number of shares occurring after the original filing of this Certificate of Incorporation without a proportionate and corresponding subdivision, combination or similar reclassification or recapitalization of the outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock.

 

Each share of Class B Common Stock shall convert into its pro rata number of shares of Class A Common Stock pursuant to this Section 4.03(b). The pro rata share for each holder of Class B Common Stock will be determined as follows: each share of Class B Common Stock shall convert into such number of shares of Class A Common Stock as is equal to the product of one multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the total number of shares of Class A Common Stock into which all of the issued and outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock shall be converted pursuant to this Section 4.03(b) and the denominator of which shall be the total number of issued and outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock at the time of conversion.

 

(iii)            Voting. Except as otherwise required by law or this Certificate of Incorporation (including any Preferred Stock Designation), for so long as any shares of Class B Common Stock shall remain outstanding, the Corporation shall not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B Common Stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision of this Certificate, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other or special rights of the Class B Common Stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class B Common Stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class B Common Stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class B Common Stock were present and voted and shall be delivered to the Corporation by delivery to its registered office in the State of Delaware, its principal place of business, or an officer or agent of the Corporation having custody of the book in which minutes of proceedings of stockholders are recorded. Delivery made to the Corporation’s registered office shall be by hand or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. Prompt written notice of the taking of corporate action without a meeting by less than unanimous written consent of the holders of Class B Common Stock shall, to the extent required by law, be given to those holders of Class B Common Stock who have not consented in writing and who, if the action had been taken at a meeting, would have been entitled to notice of the meeting if the record date for notice of such meeting had been the date that written consents signed by a sufficient number of holders of Class B Common Stock to take the action were delivered to the Corporation.

 

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(c)           Dividends. Subject to applicable law and the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the Preferred Stock, the holders of shares of Common Stock shall be entitled to receive such dividends and other distributions (payable in cash, property or capital stock of the Corporation) when, as and if declared thereon by the Board from time to time out of any assets or funds of the Corporation legally available therefor and shall share equally on a per share basis in such dividends and distributions.

 

(d)            Liquidation, Dissolution or Winding Up of the Corporation. Subject to applicable law and the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the Preferred Stock, in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation, after payment or provision for payment of the debts and other liabilities of the Corporation, the holders of shares of Common Stock shall be entitled to receive all the remaining assets of the Corporation available for distribution to its stockholders, ratably in proportion to the number of shares of Class A Common Stock (on an as converted basis with respect to the Class B Common Stock) held by them.

 

Section 4.04      Rights and Options. The Corporation has the authority to create and issue rights, warrants and options entitling the holders thereof to acquire from the Corporation any shares of its capital stock of any class or series, with such rights, warrants and options to be evidenced by or in instrument(s) approved by the Board. The Board is empowered to set the exercise price, duration, times for exercise and other terms and conditions of such rights, warrants or options; provided, however, that the consideration to be received for any shares of capital stock issuable upon exercise thereof may not be less than the par value thereof.

 

ARTICLE V
INCORPORATOR

 

The name and mailing address of the sole incorporator of the Corporation are as follows:

 

  Name   Address
  Lan Deng  

Reed Smith LLP

355 S. Grand Avenue, Suite 2900

Los Angeles, CA 90071

 

ARTICLE VI
DIRECTORS

 

Section 6.01      Board Powers. The business and affairs of the Corporation shall be managed by, or under the direction of, the Board. In addition to the powers and authority expressly conferred upon the Board by statute, this Certificate of Incorporation or the by-laws of the Corporation (the “By-laws”), the Board is hereby empowered to exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things as may be exercised or done by the Corporation, subject, nevertheless, to the provisions of the DGCL, this Certificate of Incorporation and any By-laws adopted by the stockholders; provided, however, that no By-laws hereafter adopted by the stockholders shall invalidate any prior act of the Board that would have been valid if such By-laws had not been adopted.

 

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Section 6.02         Election. Unless and except to the extent that the By-laws shall so require, the election of directors need not be by written ballot.

 

ARTICLE VII
BY-LAWS

 

In furtherance and not in limitation of the powers conferred upon it by law, the Board is expressly authorized to adopt, amend, alter, change, add or repeal the By-laws or adopt new By-laws without any action on the part of the stockholders; provided, however, that any By-laws adopted or amended by the Board, and any powers thereby conferred, may be amended, altered, changed, added or repealed by the stockholders.

 

ARTICLE VIII
LIMITED LIABILITY; INDEMNIFICATION

 

Section 8.01       Limitation of Director Liability. To the fullest extent permitted by law, a director of the Corporation shall not be personally liable to the Corporation or to its stockholders for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duty as a director. No amendment to, modification of, or repeal of this Section 8.01 shall apply to or have any effect on the liability or alleged liability of any director of the Corporation for or with respect to any acts or omissions of such director occurring prior to such amendment.

 

Section 8.02         Indemnification. The Corporation shall indemnify, advance expenses, and hold harmless, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law as it presently exists or may hereafter be amended, any person (a “Covered Person”) who was or is made or is threatened to be made a party or is otherwise involved in any action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative (a “Proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she, or a person for whom he or she is the legal representative, is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or, while a director or officer of the Corporation, is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, enterprise, or nonprofit entity, including service with respect to employee benefit plans, against all liability and loss suffered and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) reasonably incurred by such Covered Person. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, except for claims for indemnification (following the final disposition of such Proceeding) or advancement of expenses not paid in full, the Corporation shall be required to indemnify a Covered Person in connection with a Proceeding (or part thereof) commenced by such Covered Person only if the commencement of such Proceeding (or part thereof) by the Covered Person was authorized in the specific case by the Board. Any amendment, repeal, or modification of this Section 8.02 shall not adversely affect any right or protection hereunder of any person in respect of any act or omission occurring prior to the time of such repeal or modification.

 

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ARTICLE IX
INSOLVENCY; SALE, LEASE OR EXCHANGE OF ASSETS

 

Whenever a compromise or arrangement is proposed between this Corporation and its creditors or any class of them and/or between this Corporation and its stockholders or any class of them, any court of equitable jurisdiction within the State of Delaware may, on the application in a summary way of this Corporation or of any creditor or stockholder thereof or on the application of any receiver or receivers appointed for this Corporation under Section 291 of Title 8 of the Delaware Code or on the application of trustees in dissolution or of any receiver or receivers appointed for this Corporation under Section 279 of Title 8 of the Delaware Code order a meeting of the creditors or class of creditors, and/or of the stockholders or class of stockholders of this Corporation, as the case may be, to be summoned in such manner as the said court directs. If a majority in number representing three fourths in value of the creditors or class of creditors, and/or of the stockholders or class of stockholders of this Corporation, as the case may be, agree to any compromise or arrangement and to any reorganization of this Corporation as a consequence of such compromise or arrangement, the said compromise or arrangement and the said reorganization shall, if sanctioned by the court to which the said application has been made, be binding on all the creditors or class of creditors, and/or on all the stockholders or class of stockholders, of this Corporation, as the case may be, and also on this Corporation.

 

ARTICLE X
Corporate opportunity

 

To the extent allowed by law, the doctrine of corporate opportunity, or any other analogous doctrine, shall not apply with respect to the Corporation or any of its officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, in circumstances where the application of any such doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have as of the date of this Certificate of Incorporation or in the future, and the Corporation renounces any expectancy that any of the directors or officers of the Corporation will offer any such corporate opportunity of which he or she may become aware to the Corporation, except, the doctrine of corporate opportunity shall apply with respect to any of the directors or officers of the Corporation only with respect to a corporate opportunity that was offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Corporation and (a) such opportunity is one the Corporation is legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for the Corporation to pursue and (b) the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to the Corporation without violating any legal obligation.

 

ARTICLE XI
BUSINESS COMBINATIONS WITH INTERESTED STOCKHOLDERS

 

As permitted by Section 203(b)(1) of Title 8 of the DGCL, the Corporation elects not to be governed by Section 203 of Title 7 of the DGCL.

 

ARTICLE XII
AMENDMENT OF CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION

 

The Corporation reserves the right at any time, and from time to time, to amend, alter, change, add or repeal any provision contained in this Certificate of Incorporation (including any Preferred Stock Designation), in the manner now or hereafter prescribed by this Certificate of Incorporation and the DGCL. All rights, preferences, privileges, and powers of any kind conferred upon a director of stockholder of the Corporation by this Certificate of Incorporation or any amendment thereof are conferred subject to such right.

 

ARTICLE XIII
FORUM SELECTION

 

Section 13.01       Exclusive Forum for Internal Corporate Claims. Subject to Section 13.02, unless the Corporation consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Corporation, (b) any action asserting a claim for breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, employee, agent or stockholder of the Corporation to the Corporation or the Corporation’s stockholders, (c) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation, or the By-laws, or (d) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks jurisdiction over any such action or proceeding, then another court of the State of Delaware or, if no court of the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, then the United States District Court for the District of Delaware).

 

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Section 13.02       Exclusive Forum for Federal Securities Laws Claims. The exclusive forum provision provided in Section 13.01 will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder and Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act, the Securities Act, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

 

Section 13.03       Consent to Jurisdiction. If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope of Section 13.01 is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware (a “Foreign Action”) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to (a) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce Section 13.01 (an “FSC Enforcement Action”) and (b) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such FSC Enforcement Action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the Foreign Action as agent for such stockholder.

 

Section 13.04       Severability. If any provision or provisions of this ARTICLE XIII shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable as applied to any person or entity or circumstance for any reason whatsoever, then, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the validity, legality and enforceability of such provisions in any other circumstance and of the remaining provisions of this ARTICLE XIII (including, without limitation, each portion of any sentence of this ARTICLE XIII containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable that is not itself held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable) and the application of such provision to other persons or entities and circumstances shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of capital stock of the Corporation shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the provisions of this ARTICLE XIII.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned incorporator has executed this Certificate of Incorporation as of the date first set forth above.

 

  By: /s/ Lan Deng
    Name: Lan Deng, Esq.
    Title: Sole Incorporator

 

 

EX-3.2 3 tm2192661d1_ex3-2.htm EXHIBIT 3.2

Exhibit 3.2

BY-LAWS

OF

1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

 

Adopted as of February 25, 2021

 

ARTICLE I
OFFICES

 

Section 1.01       Registered Office. The registered office of 1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. (the “Corporation”) will be fixed in the certificate of incorporation of the Corporation, as may be amended or restated from time to time (the “Certificate of Incorporation”).

 

Section 1.02       Other Offices. The Corporation may, have other offices, both within and without the State of Delaware, as the board of directors of the Corporation (the “Board”), from time to time, shall determine or as the business and affairs of the Corporation may require.

 

ARTICLE II
STOCKHOLDERS MEETINGS

 

Section 2.01       Place of Meetings. All meetings of the stockholders shall be held at such place, if any, either within or without the State of Delaware, or by means of remote communication, as shall be designated from time to time by resolution of Board and stated in the notice of meeting.

 

Section 2.02      Annual Meetings. The annual meeting of stockholders for the election of directors and for the transaction of such other business as may property come before the meeting in accordance with these by-laws of the Corporation (the “By-laws”) shall be held at such date, time, and place, if any as shall be determined by the Board and stated in the notice of the meeting; provided, however, that the Board may in its sole discretion determine that the meeting shall not be held at any place, but may instead be held solely by means of remote communication pursuant to Section 9.05(a).

 

Section 2.03       Special Meetings. Subject to the rights of the holders of any outstanding series of the preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation (“Preferred Stock”), and to the requirements of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as amended (the “DGCL”), special meetings of stockholders, for any purpose or purposes, may be called only by the Chief Executive Officer or the Board pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Board, and may not be called by any other person. Special meetings of stockholders shall be held at such place, either within or without the State of Delaware, and at such time and on such date as shall be determined by the Board and stated in the Corporation’s notice of the meeting, provided that the Board may in its sole discretion determine that the meeting shall not be held at any place, but may instead be held solely by means of remote communication pursuant to Section 9.05(a).

 

Section 2.04       Notices. Written notice of each stockholders meeting stating the place, if any, date, and time of the meeting, and the means of remote communication, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at such meeting and the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, if such date is different from the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting, shall be given in the manner permitted by Section 9.03 to each stockholder entitled to vote thereat as of the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting, by the Corporation not less than 10 nor more than 60 days before the date of the meeting unless otherwise required by the DGCL. If said notice is for a stockholders meeting other than an annual meeting, it shall in addition state the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called, and the business transacted at such meeting shall be limited to the matters so stated in the Corporation’s notice of meeting (or any supplement thereto). Any meeting of stockholders as to which notice has been given may be postponed, and any meeting of stockholders as to which notice has been given may be cancelled, by the Board upon public announcement (as defined in Section 2.08(c)) given before the date previously scheduled for such meeting.

 

 

Section 2.05       Quorum. Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, or these By-laws, the presence, in person or by proxy, at a stockholders meeting of the holders of shares of outstanding capital stock of the Corporation representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote at such meeting shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at such meeting, except that when specified business is to be voted on by a class or series of stock voting as a class, the holders of shares representing a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of such class or series shall constitute a quorum of such class or series for the transaction of such business. If a quorum shall not be present or represented by proxy at any meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation, the chairman of the meeting may adjourn the meeting from time to time in the manner provided in Section 2.07 until a quorum shall attend. The stockholders present at a duly convened meeting may continue to transact business until adjournment, notwithstanding the withdrawal of enough stockholders to leave less than a quorum. Shares of its own stock belonging to the Corporation or to another corporation, if a majority of the voting power of the shares entitled to vote in the election of directors of such other corporation is held, directly or indirectly, by the Corporation, shall neither be entitled to vote nor be counted for quorum purposes; provided, however, that the foregoing shall not limit the right of the Corporation or any such other corporation to vote shares held by it in a fiduciary capacity.

 

Section 2.06       Voting of Shares.

 

(a)          Voting Lists. The Secretary of the Corporation (the “Secretary”) shall prepare, or shall cause the officer or agent who has charge of the stock ledger of the Corporation to prepare and make, at least 10 days before every meeting of stockholders, a complete list of the stockholders of record entitled to vote at such meeting; provided, however, that if the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote is less than 10 days before the meeting date, the list shall reflect the stockholders entitled to vote as of the tenth day before the meeting date, arranged in alphabetical order and showing the address and the number and class of shares registered in the name of each stockholder. Nothing contained in this Section 2.06(a) shall require the Corporation to include electronic mail addresses or other electronic contact information on such list. Such list shall be open to the examination of any stockholder, for any purpose germane to the meeting, during ordinary business hours for a period of at least 10 days prior to the meeting: (i) on a reasonably accessible electronic network, provided that the information required to gain access to such list is provided with the notice of the meeting, or (ii) during ordinary business hours, at the principal place of business of the Corporation. In the event that the Corporation determines to make the list available on an electronic network, the Corporation may take reasonable steps to ensure that such information is available only to stockholders of the Corporation. If the meeting is to be held at a place, then the list shall be produced and kept at the time and place of the meeting during the whole time thereof and may be inspected by any stockholder who is present. If a meeting of stockholders is to be held solely by means of remote communication as permitted by Section 9.05(a), the list shall be open to the examination of any stockholder during the whole time of the meeting on a reasonably accessible electronic network, and the information required to access such list shall be provided with the notice of meeting. The stock ledger shall be the only evidence as to who are the stockholders entitled to examine the list required by this Section 2.06(a) or to vote in person or by proxy at any meeting of stockholders.

 

(b)          Manner of Voting. At any stockholders meeting, every stockholder entitled to vote may vote in person or by proxy. If authorized by the Board, the voting by stockholders or proxy holders at any meeting conducted by remote communication may be effected by a ballot submitted by electronic transmission (as defined in Section 9.03(c)), provided that any such electronic transmission must either set forth or be submitted with information from which the Corporation can determine that the electronic transmission was authorized by the stockholder or proxy holder. The Board, in its discretion, or the chairman of the meeting of stockholders, in such person’s discretion, may require that any votes cast at such meeting shall be cast by written ballot.

 

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(c)          Proxies. Each stockholder entitled to vote at a meeting of stockholders or to express consent or dissent to corporate action in writing without a meeting may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder by proxy, but no such proxy shall be voted or acted upon after three years from its date, unless the proxy expressly provides for a longer period. Proxies need not be filed with the Secretary until the meeting is called to order but shall be filed with the Secretary before being voted. No stockholder shall have cumulative voting rights. Without limiting the manner in which a stockholder may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder as proxy, either of the following shall constitute a valid means by which a stockholder may grant such authority:

 

(i)          A stockholder may execute a writing authorizing another person or persons to act for such stockholder as proxy. Execution may be accomplished by the stockholder or such stockholder’s authorized officer, director, employee or agent signing such writing or causing such person’s signature to be affixed to such writing by any reasonable means, including, but not limited to, by facsimile signature.

 

(ii)         A stockholder may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder as proxy by transmitting or authorizing the transmission of an electronic transmission to the person who will be the holder of the proxy or to a proxy solicitation firm, proxy support service organization or like agent duly authorized by the person who will be the holder of the proxy to receive such transmission, provided that any such electronic transmission must either set forth or be submitted with information from which it can be determined that the electronic transmission was authorized by the stockholder. Any copy, facsimile telecommunication or other reliable reproduction of the writing or transmission authorizing another person or persons to act as proxy for a stockholder may be substituted or used in lieu of the original writing or transmission for any and all purposes for which the original writing or transmission could be used; provided that such copy, facsimile telecommunication or other reproduction shall be a complete reproduction of the entire original writing or transmission.

 

(d)          Required Vote. Subject to the rights of the holders of one or more series of Preferred Stock, voting separately by class or series, to elect directors pursuant to the terms of one or more series of Preferred Stock, at all meetings of stockholders at which a quorum is present, the election of directors shall be determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote thereon. All other matters presented to the stockholders at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be determined by the vote of a majority of the votes cast by the stockholders present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote thereon, unless the matter is one upon which, by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, these By-laws or applicable stock exchange rules, a different vote is required, in which case such provision shall govern and control the decision of such matter.

 

(e)          Inspectors of Election. The Board may, and shall if required by law, in advance of any meeting of stockholders, appoint one or more persons as inspectors of election, who may be employees of the Corporation or otherwise serve the Corporation in other capacities, to act at such meeting of stockholders or any adjournment thereof and to make a written report thereof. The Board may appoint one or more persons as alternate inspectors to replace any inspector who fails to act. If no inspectors of election or alternates are appointed by the Board, the chairman of the meeting shall appoint one or more inspectors to act at the meeting. Each inspector, before discharging his or her duties, shall take and sign an oath faithfully to execute the duties of inspector with strict impartiality and according to the best of his or her ability. The inspectors shall ascertain and report the number of outstanding shares and the voting power of each; determine the number of shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and the validity of proxies and ballots; count all votes and ballots and report the results; determine and retain for a reasonable period a record of the disposition of any challenges made to any determination by the inspectors; and certify their determination of the number of shares represented at the meeting and their count of all votes and ballots. No person who is a candidate for an office at an election may serve as an inspector at such election. Each report of an inspector shall be in writing and signed by the inspector or by a majority of them if there is more than one inspector acting at such meeting. If there is more than one inspector, the report of a majority shall be the report of the inspectors.

 

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Section 2.07       Adjournments. Any meeting of stockholders, annual or special, may be adjourned by the chairman of the meeting, from time to time, whether or not there is a quorum, to reconvene at the same or some other place. Notice need not be given of any such adjourned meeting if the date, time, and place, if any, thereof, and the means of remote communication, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at such adjourned meeting are announced at the meeting at which the adjournment is taken. At the adjourned meeting the stockholders, or the holders of any class or series of stock entitled to vote separately as a class, as the case may be, may transact any business that might have been transacted at the original meeting. If the adjournment is for more than 30 days, notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at the meeting. If after the adjournment a new record date for stockholders entitled to vote is fixed for the adjourned meeting, the Board shall fix a new record date for notice of such adjourned meeting in accordance with Section 9.02, and shall give notice of the adjourned meeting to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at such adjourned meeting as of the record date fixed for notice of such adjourned meeting.

 

Section 2.08       Advance Notice for Business.

 

(a)          Annual Meetings of Stockholders. No business may be transacted at an annual meeting of stockholders, other than business that is either (i) specified in the Corporation’s notice of meeting (or any supplement thereto) given by or at the direction of the Board, (ii) otherwise properly brought before the annual meeting by or at the direction of the Board or (iii) otherwise properly brought before the annual meeting by any stockholder of the Corporation (x) who is a stockholder of record entitled to vote at such annual meeting on the date of the giving of the notice provided for in this Section 2.08(a) and on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to vote at such annual meeting and (y) who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this Section 2.08(a). Notwithstanding anything in this Section 2.08(a) to the contrary, only persons nominated for election as a director to fill any term of a directorship that expires on the date of the annual meeting pursuant to Section 3.02 will be considered for election at such meeting.

 

(i)          In addition to any other applicable requirements, for business (other than nominations) to be properly brought before an annual meeting by a stockholder, such stockholder must have given timely notice thereof in proper written form to the Secretary and such business must otherwise be a proper matter for stockholder action. Subject to Section 2.08(a)(iii), a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary with respect to such business, to be timely, must be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not later than the opening of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders; provided, however, that in the event that the annual meeting is more than 30 days before or more than 60 days after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so delivered not earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the meeting and not later than the later of (x) the opening of business on the 90th day before the meeting or (y) the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the annual meeting is first made by the Corporation. The public announcement of an adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting shall not commence a new time period (or extend any time period) for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described in this Section 2.08(a).

 

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(ii)         To be in proper written form, a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary with respect to any business (other than nominations) must set forth as to each such matter such stockholder proposes to bring before the annual meeting (A) a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the annual meeting, the text of the proposal or business (including the text of any resolutions proposed for consideration and in the event such business includes a proposal to amend these By-laws, the language of the proposed amendment) and the reasons for conducting such business at the annual meeting, (B) the name and record address of such stockholder and the name and address of the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made, (C) the class or series and number of shares of capital stock of the Corporation that are owned beneficially and of record by such stockholder and by the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made, (D) a description of all arrangements or understandings between such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made and any other person or persons (including their names) in connection with the proposal of such business by such stockholder, (E) any material interest of such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made in such business and (F) a representation that such stockholder (or a qualified representative of such stockholder) intends to appear in person or by proxy at the annual meeting to bring such business before the meeting.

 

(iii)        The foregoing notice requirements of this Section 2.08(a) shall be deemed satisfied by a stockholder as to any proposal (other than nominations) if the stockholder has notified the Corporation of such stockholder’s intention to present such proposal at an annual meeting in compliance with Rule 14a-8 (or any successor thereof) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and such stockholder has complied with the requirements of such Rule for inclusion of such proposal in a proxy statement prepared by the Corporation to solicit proxies for such annual meeting. No business shall be conducted at the annual meeting of stockholders except business brought before the annual meeting in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section 2.08(a), provided, however, that once business has been properly brought before the annual meeting in accordance with such procedures, nothing in this Section 2.08(a) shall be deemed to preclude discussion by any stockholder of any such business. If the Board or the chairman of the annual meeting determines that any stockholder proposal was not made in accordance with the provisions of this Section 2.08(a) or that the information provided in a stockholder’s notice does not satisfy the information requirements of this Section 2.08(a), such proposal shall not be presented for action at the annual meeting. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 2.08(a), if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder) does not appear at the annual meeting of stockholders of the Corporation to present the proposed business, such proposed business shall not be transacted, notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such matter may have been received by the Corporation.

 

(iv)         In addition to the provisions of this Section 2.08(a), a stockholder shall also comply with all applicable requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder with respect to the matters set forth herein. Nothing in this Section 2.08(a) shall be deemed to affect any rights of stockholders to request inclusion of proposals in the Corporation’s proxy statement pursuant to Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act.

 

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(b)         Special Meetings of Stockholders. Only such business shall be conducted at a special meeting of stockholders as shall have been brought before the meeting pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting. Nominations of persons for election to the Board may be made at a special meeting of stockholders at which directors are to be elected pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting only pursuant to Section 3.02.

 

(c)          Public Announcement. For purposes of these By-laws, “public announcement” shall mean disclosure in a press release reported by the Dow Jones News Service, Associated Press or comparable national news service or in a document publicly filed by the Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Sections 13, 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (or any successor thereto).

 

Section 2.09        Conduct of Meetings. The chairman of each annual and special meeting of stockholders shall be the Chairman of the Board or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chief Executive Officer or if the Chief Executive Officer is not a director, the President (if he or she shall be a director) or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the President or if the President is not a director, such other person as shall be appointed by the Board. The date and time of the opening and the closing of the polls for each matter upon which the stockholders will vote at a meeting shall be announced at the meeting by the chairman of the meeting. The Board may adopt such rules and regulations for the conduct of the meeting of stockholders as it shall deem appropriate. Except to the extent inconsistent with these By-laws or such rules and regulations as adopted by the Board, the chairman of any meeting of stockholders shall have the right and authority to convene and to adjourn the meeting, to prescribe such rules, regulations and procedures and to do all such acts as, in the judgment of such chairman, are appropriate for the proper conduct of the meeting. Such rules, regulations or procedures, whether adopted by the Board or prescribed by the chairman of the meeting, may include, without limitation, the following: (a) the establishment of an agenda or order of business for the meeting; (b) rules and procedures for maintaining order at the meeting and the safety of those present; (c) limitations on attendance at or participation in the meeting to stockholders of record of the Corporation, their duly authorized and constituted proxies or such other persons as the chairman of the meeting shall determine; (d) restrictions on entry to the meeting after the time fixed for the commencement thereof; and (e) limitations on the time allotted to questions or comments by participants. Unless and to the extent determined by the Board or the chairman of the meeting, meetings of stockholders shall not be required to be held in accordance with the rules of parliamentary procedure. The secretary of each annual and special meeting of stockholders shall be the Secretary or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary, an Assistant Secretary so appointed to act by the chairman of the meeting. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary and all Assistant Secretaries, the chairman of the meeting may appoint any person to act as secretary of the meeting.

 

Section 2.10       Consents in Lieu of Meeting. Unless otherwise provided by the Certificate of Incorporation, until the Corporation consummates an initial public offering, any action required to be taken at any annual or special meeting of stockholders, or any action which may be taken at any annual or special meeting of such stockholders, may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of outstanding stock entitled to vote thereon having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares entitled to vote thereon were present and voted, and shall be delivered to the Corporation by delivery to its registered office in the State of Delaware, its principal place of business, or an officer or agent of the Corporation having custody of the book in which proceedings of meetings of stockholders are recorded. Delivery made to the Corporation’s registered office shall be by hand or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested.

 

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Every written consent shall bear the date of signature of each stockholder who signs the consent, and no written consent shall be effective to take the corporate action referred to therein unless, within 60 days of the earliest dated consent delivered in the manner required by this section and the DGCL to the Corporation, written consents signed by a sufficient number of holders entitled to vote to take action are delivered to the Corporation by delivery to its registered office in Delaware, its principal place of business or an officer or agent of the Corporation having custody of the book in which proceedings of meetings of stockholders are recorded. Delivery made to the Corporation’s registered office shall be by hand or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested.

 

ARTICLE III
DIRECTORS

 

Section 3.01       Powers; Number. The business and affairs of the Corporation shall be managed by or under the direction of the Board, which may exercise all such powers of the Corporation and do all such lawful acts and things as are not by statute or by the Certificate of Incorporation or by these By-laws required to be exercised or done by the stockholders. Directors need not be stockholders or residents of the State of Delaware. Subject to the Certificate of Incorporation, the number of directors shall be fixed exclusively by resolution of the Board.

 

Section 3.02       Advance Notice for Nomination of Directors.

 

(a)          Only persons who are nominated in accordance with the following procedures shall be eligible for election as directors of the Corporation, except as may be otherwise provided by the terms of one or more series of Preferred Stock with respect to the rights of holders of one or more series of Preferred Stock to elect directors. Nominations of persons for election to the Board at any annual meeting of stockholders, or at any special meeting of stockholders called for the purpose of electing directors as set forth in the Corporation’s notice of such special meeting, may be made (i) by or at the direction of the Board or (ii) by any stockholder of the Corporation (x) who is a stockholder of record entitled to vote in the election of directors on the date of the giving of the notice provided for in this Section 3.02 and on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting and (y) who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this Section 3.02.

 

(b)          In addition to any other applicable requirements, for a nomination to be made by a stockholder, such stockholder must have given timely notice thereof in proper written form to the Secretary. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary must be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation (i) in the case of an annual meeting, not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders; provided, however, that in the event that the annual meeting is more than 30 days before or more than 60 days after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so received not earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the meeting and not later than the later of (x) the close of business on the 90th day before the meeting or (y) the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the annual meeting was first made by the Corporation; and (ii) in the case of a special meeting of stockholders called for the purpose of electing directors, not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the special meeting is first made by the Corporation. In no event shall the public announcement of an adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting or special meeting commence a new time period (or extend any time period) for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described in this Section 3.02.

 

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(c)          Notwithstanding anything in Section 3.02(b) to the contrary, in the event that the number of directors to be elected to the Board at an annual meeting is greater than the number of directors whose terms expire on the date of the annual meeting and there is no public announcement by the Corporation naming all of the nominees for the additional directors to be elected or specifying the size of the increased Board before the close of business on the 90th day prior to the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders, a stockholder’s notice required by this Section 3.02 shall also be considered timely, but only with respect to nominees for the additional directorships created by such increase that are to be filled by election at such annual meeting, if it shall be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the date on which such public announcement was first made by the Corporation.

 

(d)         To be in proper written form, a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary must set forth (i) as to each person whom the stockholder proposes to nominate for election as a director (A) the name, age, business address and residence address of the person, (B) the principal occupation or employment of the person, (C) the class or series and number of shares of capital stock of the Corporation that are owned beneficially or of record by the person and (D) any other information relating to the person that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for election of directors pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder; and (ii) as to the stockholder giving the notice (A) the name and record address of such stockholder as they appear on the Corporation’s books and the name and address of the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, (B) the class or series and number of shares of capital stock of the Corporation that are owned beneficially and of record by such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, (C) a description of all arrangements or understandings relating to the nomination to be made by such stockholder among such stockholder, the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, each proposed nominee and any other person or persons (including their names), (D) a representation that such stockholder (or a qualified representative of such stockholder) intends to appear in person or by proxy at the meeting to nominate the persons named in its notice and (E) any other information relating to such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for election of directors pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Such notice must be accompanied by a written consent of each proposed nominee to being named as a nominee and to serve as a director if elected.

 

(e)           If the Board or the chairman of the meeting of stockholders determines that any nomination was not made in accordance with the provisions of this Section 3.02, or that the information provided in a stockholder’s notice does not satisfy the information requirements of this Section 3.02, then such nomination shall not be considered at the meeting in question. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 3.02, if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder) does not appear at the meeting of stockholders of the Corporation to present the nomination, such nomination shall be disregarded, notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such nomination may have been received by the Corporation.

 

(f)          In addition to the provisions of this Section 3.02, a stockholder shall also comply with all of the applicable requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder with respect to the matters set forth herein. Nothing in this Section 3.02 shall be deemed to affect any rights of the holders of Preferred Stock to elect directors pursuant to the Certificate of Incorporation.

 

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Section 3.03       Compensation. Unless otherwise restricted by the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws, the Board shall have the authority to fix the compensation of directors, including for service on a committee of the Board, and may be paid either a fixed sum for attendance at each meeting of the Board or other compensation as director. The directors may be reimbursed their expenses, if any, of attendance at each meeting of the Board. No such payment shall preclude any director from serving the Corporation in any other capacity and receiving compensation therefor. Members of committees of the Board may be allowed like compensation and reimbursement of expenses for service on the committee.

  

ARTICLE IV
BOARD MEETINGS

 

Section 4.01       Annual Meetings. The Board shall meet as soon as practicable after the adjournment of each annual stockholders meeting at the place of the annual stockholders meeting unless the Board shall fix another time and place and give notice thereof in the manner required herein for special meetings of the Board. No notice to the directors shall be necessary to legally convene this meeting, except as provided in this Section 4.01.

 

Section 4.02       Regular Meetings. Regularly scheduled, periodic meetings of the Board may be held without notice at such times, dates and places (within or without the State of Delaware) as shall from time to time be determined by the Board.

 

Section 4.03       Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Board (a) may be called by the Chairman of the Board or President and (b) shall be called by the Chairman of the Board, President or Secretary on the written request of at least a majority of directors then in office, or the sole director, as the case may be, and shall be held at such time, date and place (within or without the State of Delaware) as may be determined by the person calling the meeting or, if called upon the request of directors or the sole director, as specified in such written request. Notice of each special meeting of the Board shall be given, as provided in Section 9.03, to each director (i) at least 24 hours before the meeting if such notice is oral notice given personally or by telephone or written notice given by hand delivery or by means of a form of electronic transmission and delivery; (ii) at least two days before the meeting if such notice is sent by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service; and (iii) at least five days before the meeting if such notice is sent through the United States mail. If the Secretary shall fail or refuse to give such notice, then the notice may be given by the officer who called the meeting or the directors who requested the meeting. Any and all business that may be transacted at a regular meeting of the Board may be transacted at a special meeting. Except as may be otherwise expressly provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, or these By-laws, neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any special meeting need be specified in the notice or waiver of notice of such meeting. A special meeting may be held at any time without notice if all the directors are present or if those not present waive notice of the meeting in accordance with Section 9.04.

 

Section 4.04       Quorum; Required Vote. A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the Board, and the act of a majority of the directors present at any meeting at which there is a quorum shall be the act of the Board, except as may be otherwise specifically provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws. If a quorum shall not be present at any meeting, a majority of the directors present may adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than announcement at the meeting, until a quorum is present.

 

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Section 4.05       Consent In Lieu of Meeting. Unless otherwise restricted by the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws, any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Board or any committee thereof may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board or committee, as the case may be, consent thereto in writing or by electronic transmission, and the writing or writings or electronic transmission or transmissions (or paper reproductions thereof) are filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board or committee. Such filing shall be in paper form if the minutes are maintained in paper form and shall be in electronic form if the minutes are maintained in electronic form.

 

Section 4.06       Organization. The chairman of each meeting of the Board shall be the Chairman of the Board or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chief Executive Officer or if the Chief Executive Officer is not a director, the President (if he or she shall be a director) or in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the President or if the President is not a director, a chairman elected from the directors present. The Secretary shall act as secretary of all meetings of the Board. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary, an Assistant Secretary shall perform the duties of the Secretary at such meeting. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary and all Assistant Secretaries, the chairman of the meeting may appoint any person to act as secretary of the meeting.

 

ARTICLE V
COMMITTEES OF DIRECTORS

 

Section 5.01       Establishment. The Board may by resolution of the Board designate one or more committees, each committee to consist of one or more of the directors of the Corporation. Each committee shall keep regular minutes of its meetings and report the same to the Board when required by the resolution designating such committee. The Board shall have the power at any time to fill vacancies in, to change the membership of, or to dissolve any such committee.

 

Section 5.02       Available Powers. Any committee established pursuant to Section 5.01 hereof, to the extent permitted by applicable law and by resolution of the Board, shall have and may exercise all of the powers and authority of the Board in the management of the business and affairs of the Corporation, and may authorize the seal of the Corporation to be affixed to all papers that may require it.

 

Section 5.03       Alternate Members. The Board may designate one or more directors as alternate members of any committee, who may replace any absent or disqualified member at any meeting of such committee. In the absence or disqualification of a member of the committee, the member or members thereof present at any meeting and not disqualified from voting, whether or not he, she or they constitute a quorum, may unanimously appoint another member of the Board to act at the meeting in place of any such absent or disqualified member.

 

Section 5.04       Procedures. Unless the Board otherwise provides, the time, date, place, if any, and notice of meetings of a committee shall be determined by such committee. At meetings of a committee, a majority of the number of members of the committee (but not including any alternate member, unless such alternate member has replaced any absent or disqualified member at the time of, or in connection with, such meeting) shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The act of a majority of the members present at any meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the committee, except as otherwise specifically provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, these By-laws or the Board. If a quorum is not present at a meeting of a committee, the members present may adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than an announcement at the meeting, until a quorum is present. Unless the Board otherwise provides and except as provided in these By-laws, each committee designated by the Board may make, alter, amend and repeal rules for the conduct of its business. In the absence of such rules each committee shall conduct its business in the same manner as the Board is authorized to conduct its business pursuant to ARTICLE III and ARTICLE IV of these By-laws.

 

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ARTICLE VI
OFFICERS

 

Section 6.01       Officers. The officers of the Corporation elected by the Board shall be a Chief Executive Officer, a Chief Financial Officer, a Secretary and such other officers (including without limitation, a Chairman of the Board, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Assistant Secretaries and a Treasurer) as the Board from time to time may determine. Officers elected by the Board shall each have such powers and duties as generally pertain to their respective offices, subject to the specific provisions of this ARTICLE VI. Such officers shall also have such powers and duties as from time to time may be conferred by the Board. The Chief Executive Officer or President may also appoint such other officers (including without limitation one or more Vice Presidents and Controllers) as may be necessary or desirable for the conduct of the business of the Corporation. Such other officers shall have such powers and duties and shall hold their offices for such terms as may be provided in these By-laws or as may be prescribed by the Board or, if such officer has been appointed by the Chief Executive Officer or President, as may be prescribed by the appointing officer.

 

(a)         Chairman of the Board. The Chairman of the Board shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The Chairman of the Board shall have general supervision and control of the acquisition activities of the Corporation subject to the ultimate authority of the Board, and shall be responsible for the execution of the policies of the Board with respect to such matters. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The powers and duties of the Chairman of the Board shall not include supervision or control of the preparation of the financial statements of the Corporation (other than through participation as a member of the Board). The position of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer may be held by the same person.

 

(b)         Chief Executive Officer. The Chief Executive Officer shall be the chief executive officer of the Corporation, shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Corporation and general control of all of its business subject to the ultimate authority of the Board, and shall be responsible for the execution of the policies of the Board with respect to such matters, except to the extent any such powers and duties have been prescribed to the Chairman of the Board pursuant to Section 6.01(a) above. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The position of Chief Executive Officer and President may be held by the same person.

 

(c)         President. The President shall make recommendations to the Chief Executive Officer on all operational matters that would normally be reserved for the final executive responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, the President (if he or she shall be a director) shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The President shall also perform such duties and have such powers as shall be designated by the Board. The position of President and Chief Executive Officer may be held by the same person.

 

(d)         Vice Presidents. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the President, the Vice President (or in the event there be more than one Vice President, the Vice Presidents in the order designated by the Board) shall perform the duties and have the powers of the President. Any one or more of the Vice Presidents may be given an additional designation of rank or function.

 

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(e)          Secretary.

 

(i)          The Secretary shall attend all meetings of the stockholders, the Board and (as required) committees of the Board and shall record the proceedings of such meetings in books to be kept for that purpose. The Secretary shall give, or cause to be given, notice of all meetings of the stockholders and special meetings of the Board and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the Board, the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer or President. The Secretary shall have custody of the corporate seal of the Corporation and the Secretary, or any Assistant Secretary, shall have authority to affix the same to any instrument requiring it, and when so affixed, it may be attested by his or her signature or by the signature of such Assistant Secretary. The Board may give general authority to any other officer to affix the seal of the Corporation and to attest the affixing thereof by his or her signature.

 

(ii)         The Secretary shall keep, or cause to be kept, at the principal executive office of the Corporation or at the office of the Corporation’s transfer agent or registrar, if one has been appointed, a stock ledger, or duplicate stock ledger, showing the names of the stockholders and their addresses, the number and classes of shares held by each and, with respect to certificated shares, the number and date of certificates issued for the same and the number and date of certificates cancelled.

 

(f)          Assistant Secretaries. The Assistant Secretary or, if there be more than one, the Assistant Secretaries in the order determined by the Board shall, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary, perform the duties and have the powers of the Secretary.

 

(g)         Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Financial Officer shall perform all duties commonly incident to that office (including, without limitation, the care and custody of the funds and securities of the Corporation, which from time to time may come into the Chief Financial Officer’s hands and the deposit of the funds of the Corporation in such banks or trust companies as the Board, the Chief Executive Officer or the President may authorize).

 

(h)          Treasurer. The Treasurer shall, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chief Financial Officer, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the Chief Financial Officer.

 

Section 6.02       Term of Office; Removal; Vacancies. The elected officers of the Corporation shall be appointed by the Board and shall hold office until their successors are duly elected and qualified by the Board or until their earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, or removal from office. Any officer may be removed, with or without cause, at any time by the Board. Any officer appointed by the Chief Executive Officer or President may also be removed, with or without cause, by the Chief Executive Officer or President, as the case may be, unless the Board otherwise provides. Any vacancy occurring in any elected office of the Corporation may be filled by the Board. Any vacancy occurring in any office appointed by the Chief Executive Officer or President may be filled by the Chief Executive Officer, or President, as the case may be, unless the Board then determines that such office shall thereupon be elected by the Board, in which case the Board shall elect such officer.

 

Section 6.03       Other Officers. The Board may delegate the power to appoint such other officers and agents, and may also remove such officers and agents or delegate the power to remove same, as it shall from time to time deem necessary or desirable.

 

Section 6.04       Multiple Officeholders; Stockholder and Director Officers. Any number of offices may be held by the same person unless the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws otherwise provide. Officers need not be stockholders or residents of the State of Delaware.

 

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ARTICLE VII
SHARES

 

Section 7.01       Certificated and Uncertificated Shares. The shares of the Corporation may be certificated or uncertificated, subject to the sole discretion of the Board and the requirements of the DGCL.

 

Section 7.02       Multiple Classes of Stock. If the Corporation shall be authorized to issue more than one class of stock or more than one series of any class, the Corporation shall (a) cause the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights to be set forth in full or summarized on the face or back of any certificate that the Corporation issues to represent shares of such class or series of stock or (b) in the case of uncertificated shares, within a reasonable time after the issuance or transfer of such shares, send to the registered owner thereof a written notice containing the information required to be set forth on certificates as specified in clause (a) above; provided, however, that, except as otherwise provided by applicable law, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, there may be set forth on the face or back of such certificate or, in the case of uncertificated shares, on such written notice a statement that the Corporation will furnish without charge to each stockholder who so requests the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences or rights.

 

Section 7.03       Signatures. Each certificate representing capital stock of the Corporation shall be signed by or in the name of the Corporation by (a) the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, the President or a Vice President and (b) the Treasurer, an Assistant Treasurer, the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the Corporation. Any or all the signatures on the certificate may be a facsimile. In case any officer, transfer agent or registrar who has signed or whose facsimile signature has been placed upon a certificate shall have ceased to be such officer, transfer agent or registrar before such certificate is issued, such certificate may be issued by the Corporation with the same effect as if such person were such officer, transfer agent or registrar on the date of issue.

 

Section 7.04       Consideration and Payment for Shares.

 

(a)          Subject to applicable law and the Certificate of Incorporation, shares of stock may be issued for such consideration, having in the case of shares with par value a value not less than the par value thereof, and to such persons, as determined from time to time by the Board. The consideration may consist of any tangible or intangible property or any benefit to the Corporation including cash, promissory notes, services performed, contracts for services to be performed or other securities, or any combination thereof.

 

(b)         Subject to applicable law and the Certificate of Incorporation, shares may not be issued until the full amount of the consideration has been paid, unless upon the face or back of each certificate issued to represent any partly paid shares of capital stock or upon the books and records of the Corporation in the case of partly paid uncertificated shares, there shall have been set forth the total amount of the consideration to be paid therefor and the amount paid thereon up to and including the time said certificate representing certificated shares or said uncertificated shares are issued.

 

Section 7.05        Lost, Destroyed or Wrongfully Taken Certificates.

 

(a)           If an owner of a certificate representing shares claims that such certificate has been lost, destroyed or wrongfully taken, the Corporation shall issue a new certificate representing such shares or such shares in uncertificated form if the owner: (i) requests such a new certificate before the Corporation has notice that the certificate representing such shares has been acquired by a protected purchaser; (ii) if requested by the Corporation, delivers to the Corporation a bond sufficient to indemnify the Corporation against any claim that may be made against the Corporation on account of the alleged loss, wrongful taking or destruction of such certificate or the issuance of such new certificate or uncertificated shares; and (iii) satisfies other reasonable requirements imposed by the Corporation.

 

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(b)          If a certificate representing shares has been lost, apparently destroyed or wrongfully taken, and the owner fails to notify the Corporation of that fact within a reasonable time after the owner has notice of such loss, apparent destruction or wrongful taking and the Corporation registers a transfer of such shares before receiving notification, the owner shall be precluded from asserting against the Corporation any claim for registering such transfer or a claim to a new certificate representing such shares or such shares in uncertificated form.

 

Section 7.06        Transfer of Stock.

 

(a)          If a certificate representing shares of the Corporation is presented to the Corporation with an endorsement requesting the registration of transfer of such shares or an instruction is presented to the Corporation requesting the registration of transfer of uncertificated shares, the Corporation shall register the transfer as requested if:

 

(i)           in the case of certificated shares, the certificate representing such shares has been surrendered;

 

(ii)          (A) with respect to certificated shares, the endorsement is made by the person specified by the certificate as entitled to such shares; (B) with respect to uncertificated shares, an instruction is made by the registered owner of such uncertificated shares; or (C) with respect to certificated shares or uncertificated shares, the endorsement or instruction is made by any other appropriate person or by an agent who has actual authority to act on behalf of the appropriate person;

 

(iii)        the Corporation has received a guarantee of signature of the person signing such endorsement or instruction or such other reasonable assurance that the endorsement or instruction is genuine and authorized as the Corporation may request;

 

(iv)        the transfer does not violate any restriction on transfer imposed by the Corporation that is enforceable in accordance with Section 7.08(a); and

 

(v)         such other conditions for such transfer as shall be provided for under applicable law have been satisfied.

 

(b)         Whenever any transfer of shares shall be made for collateral security and not absolutely, the Corporation shall so record such fact in the entry of transfer if, when the certificate for such shares is presented to the Corporation for transfer or, if such shares are uncertificated, when the instruction for registration of transfer thereof is presented to the Corporation, both the transferor and transferee request the Corporation to do so.

 

Section 7.07      Registered Stockholders. Before due presentment for registration of transfer of a certificate representing shares of the Corporation or of an instruction requesting registration of transfer of uncertificated shares, the Corporation may treat the registered owner as the person exclusively entitled to inspect for any proper purpose the stock ledger and the other books and records of the Corporation, vote such shares, receive dividends or notifications with respect to such shares and otherwise exercise all the rights and powers of the owner of such shares, except that a person who is the beneficial owner of such shares (if held in a voting trust or by a nominee on behalf of such person) may, upon providing documentary evidence of beneficial ownership of such shares and satisfying such other conditions as are provided under applicable law, may also so inspect the books and records of the Corporation.

 

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Section 7.08       Effect of the Corporation’s Restriction on Transfer.

 

(a)          A written restriction on the transfer or registration of transfer of shares of the Corporation or on the amount of shares of the Corporation that may be owned by any person or group of persons, if permitted by the DGCL and noted conspicuously on the certificate representing such shares or, in the case of uncertificated shares, contained in a notice, offering circular or prospectus sent by the Corporation to the registered owner of such shares within a reasonable time prior to or after the issuance or transfer of such shares, may be enforced against the holder of such shares or any successor or transferee of the holder including an executor, administrator, trustee, guardian or other fiduciary entrusted with like responsibility for the person or estate of the holder.

 

(b)         A restriction imposed by the Corporation on the transfer or the registration of shares of the Corporation or on the amount of shares of the Corporation that may be owned by any person or group of persons, even if otherwise lawful, is ineffective against a person without actual knowledge of such restriction unless: (i) the shares are certificated and such restriction is noted conspicuously on the certificate; or (ii) the shares are uncertificated and such restriction was contained in a notice, offering circular or prospectus sent by the Corporation to the registered owner of such shares within a reasonable time prior to or after the issuance or transfer of such shares.

 

Section 7.09        Regulations. The Board shall have power and authority to make such additional rules and regulations, subject to any applicable requirement of law, as the Board may deem necessary and appropriate with respect to the issue, transfer or registration of transfer of shares of stock or certificates representing shares. The Board may appoint one or more transfer agents or registrars and may require for the validity thereof that certificates representing shares bear the signature of any transfer agent or registrar so appointed.

 

ARTICLE VIII
INDEMNIFICATION

 

Section 8.01        Right to Indemnification. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended, the Corporation shall indemnify and hold harmless each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved in any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (hereinafter a “proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or, while a director or officer of the Corporation, is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, other enterprise or nonprofit entity, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan (hereinafter an “Indemnitee”), whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director, officer, employee or agent, or in any other capacity while serving as a director, officer, employee or agent, against all liability and loss suffered and expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred by such Indemnitee in connection with such proceeding; provided, however, that, except as provided in Section 8.03 with respect to proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification, the Corporation shall indemnify an Indemnitee in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such Indemnitee only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board.

 

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Section 8.02       Right to Advancement of Expenses. In addition to the right to indemnification conferred in Section 8.01, an Indemnitee shall also have the right to be paid by the Corporation to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law the expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees) incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition (hereinafter an “advancement of expenses”); provided, however, that, if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by an Indemnitee in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Corporation (and not in any other capacity in which service was or is rendered by such Indemnitee, including, without limitation, service to an employee benefit plan) shall be made only upon the Corporation’s receipt of an undertaking (hereinafter an “undertaking”), by or on behalf of such Indemnitee, to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined that such Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified under this ARTICLE VIII or otherwise.

 

Section 8.03       Right of Indemnitee to Bring Suit. If a claim under Section 8.01 or Section 8.02 is not paid in full by the Corporation within 60 days after a written claim therefor has been received by the Corporation, except in the case of a claim for an advancement of expenses, in which case the applicable period shall be 20 days, the Indemnitee may at any time thereafter bring suit against the Corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim. If successful in whole or in part in any such suit, or in a suit brought by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the Indemnitee shall also be entitled to be paid the expense of prosecuting or defending such suit. In (a) any suit brought by the Indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification hereunder (but not in a suit brought by an Indemnitee to enforce a right to an advancement of expenses) it shall be a defense that, and (b) in any suit brought by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the Corporation shall be entitled to recover such expenses upon a final judicial decision from which there is no further right to appeal (hereinafter a “final adjudication”) that, the Indemnitee has not met any applicable standard for indemnification set forth in the DGCL. Neither the failure of the Corporation (including its directors who are not parties to such action, a committee of such directors, independent legal counsel, or its stockholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such suit that indemnification of the Indemnitee is proper in the circumstances because the Indemnitee has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the DGCL, nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including a determination by its directors who are not parties to such action, a committee of such directors, independent legal counsel, or its stockholders) that the Indemnitee has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall create a presumption that the Indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct or, in the case of such a suit brought by the Indemnitee, shall be a defense to such suit. In any suit brought by the Indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification or to an advancement of expenses hereunder, or by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the burden of proving that the Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified, or to such advancement of expenses, under this ARTICLE VIII or otherwise shall be on the Corporation.

 

Section 8.04       Non-Exclusivity of Rights. The rights provided to any Indemnitee pursuant to this ARTICLE VIII shall not be exclusive of any other right, which such Indemnitee may have or hereafter acquire under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, these By-laws, an agreement, a vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

 

Section 8.05        Insurance. The Corporation may maintain insurance, at its expense, to protect itself and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of the Corporation or another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.

 

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Section 8.06        Indemnification of Other Persons. This ARTICLE VIII shall not limit the right of the Corporation to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other than Indemnitees. Without limiting the foregoing, the Corporation may, to the extent authorized from time to time by the Board, grant rights to indemnification and to the advancement of expenses to any employee or agent of the Corporation and to any other person who is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, to the fullest extent of the provisions of this ARTICLE VIII with respect to the indemnification and advancement of expenses of Indemnitees under this ARTICLE VIII.

 

Section 8.07       Amendments. Any repeal or amendment of this ARTICLE VIII by the Board or the stockholders of the Corporation or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provision of these By-laws inconsistent with this ARTICLE VIII, will, to the extent permitted by applicable law, be prospective only (except to the extent such amendment or change in applicable law permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights to Indemnitees on a retroactive basis than permitted prior thereto), and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing hereunder in respect of any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision; provided however, that amendments or repeals of this ARTICLE VIII shall require the affirmative vote of the stockholders holding at least 66.7% of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation.

 

Section 8.08        Certain Definitions. For purposes of this ARTICLE VIII, (a) references to “other enterprise” shall include any employee benefit plan; (b) references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to an employee benefit plan; (c) references to “serving at the request of the Corporation” shall include any service that imposes duties on, or involves services by, a person with respect to any employee benefit plan, its participants, or beneficiaries; and (d) a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interest of the Corporation” for purposes of Section 145 of the DGCL.

 

Section 8.09        Contract Rights. The rights provided to Indemnitees pursuant to this ARTICLE VIII shall be contract rights and such rights shall continue as to an Indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, agent or employee and shall inure to the benefit of the Indemnitee’s heirs, executors and administrators.

 

Section 8.10       Severability. If any provision or provisions of this ARTICLE VIII shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever: (a) the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this ARTICLE VIII shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby; and (b) to the fullest extent possible, the provisions of this ARTICLE VIII (including, without limitation, each such portion of this ARTICLE VIII containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall be construed so as to give effect to the intent manifested by the provision held invalid, illegal or unenforceable.

 

ARTICLE IX
MISCELLANEOUS

 

Section 9.01       Place of Meetings. If the place of any meeting of stockholders, the Board or committee of the Board for which notice is required under these By-laws is not designated in the notice of such meeting, such meeting shall be held at the principal business office of the Corporation; provided, however, if the Board has, in its sole discretion, determined that a meeting shall not be held at any place, but instead shall be held by means of remote communication pursuant to Section 9.05 hereof, then such meeting shall not be held at any place.

 

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Section 9.02        Fixing Record Dates.

 

(a)          In order that the Corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to notice of any meeting of stockholders or any adjournment thereof, the Board may fix a record date, which shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the Board, and which record date shall not be more than 60 nor less than 10 days before the date of such meeting. If the Board so fixes a date, such date shall also be the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting unless the Board determines, at the time it fixes such record date, that a later date on or before the date of the meeting shall be the date for making such determination. If no record date is fixed by the Board, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of and to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall be at the close of business on the business day next preceding the day on which notice is given, or, if notice is waived, at the close of business on the business day next preceding the day on which the meeting is held. A determination of stockholders of record entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall apply to any adjournment of the meeting; provided, however, that the Board may fix a new record date for the adjourned meeting, and in such case shall also fix as the record date for stockholders entitled to notice of such adjourned meeting the same or an earlier date as that fixed for determination of stockholders entitled to vote in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Section 9.02(a) at the adjourned meeting.

 

(b)          In order that the Corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to receive payment of any dividend or other distribution or allotment of any rights or the stockholders entitled to exercise any rights in respect of any change, conversion or exchange of stock, or for the purpose of any other lawful action, the Board may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted, and which record date shall be not more than 60 days prior to such action. If no record date is fixed, the record date for determining stockholders for any such purpose shall be at the close of business on the day on which the Board adopts the resolution relating thereto.

 

Section 9.03      Means of Giving Notice.

 

(a)          Notice to Directors. Whenever under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws notice is required to be given to any director, such notice shall be given either (i) in writing and sent by mail, or by a nationally recognized delivery service, (ii) by means of facsimile telecommunication or other form of electronic transmission, or (iii) by oral notice given personally or by telephone. A notice to a director will be deemed given as follows: (i) if given by hand delivery, orally, or by telephone, when actually received by the director, (ii) if sent through the United States mail, when deposited in the United States mail, with postage and fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the director at the director’s address appearing on the records of the Corporation, (iii) if sent for next day delivery by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service, when deposited with such service, with fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the director at the director’s address appearing on the records of the Corporation, (iv) if sent by facsimile telecommunication, when sent to the facsimile transmission number for such director appearing on the records of the Corporation, (v) if sent by electronic mail, when sent to the electronic mail address for such director appearing on the records of the Corporation, or (vi) if sent by any other form of electronic transmission, when sent to the address, location or number (as applicable) for such director appearing on the records of the Corporation.

 

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(b)         Notice to Stockholders. Whenever under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws notice is required to be given to any stockholder, such notice may be given (i) in writing and sent either by hand delivery, through the United States mail, or by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service for next day delivery, or (ii) by means of a form of electronic transmission consented to by the stockholder, to the extent permitted by, and subject to the conditions set forth in Section 232 of the DGCL. A notice to a stockholder shall be deemed given as follows: (i) if given by hand delivery, when actually received by the stockholder, (ii) if sent through the United States mail, when deposited in the United States mail, with postage and fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the stockholder at the stockholder’s address appearing on the stock ledger of the Corporation, (iii) if sent for next day delivery by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service, when deposited with such service, with fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the stockholder at the stockholder’s address appearing on the stock ledger of the Corporation, and (iv) if given by a form of electronic transmission consented to by the stockholder to whom the notice is given and otherwise meeting the requirements set forth above, (A) if by facsimile transmission, when directed to a number at which the stockholder has consented to receive notice, (B) if by electronic mail, when directed to an electronic mail address at which the stockholder has consented to receive notice, (C) if by a posting on an electronic network together with separate notice to the stockholder of such specified posting, upon the later of (1) such posting and (2) the giving of such separate notice, and (D) if by any other form of electronic transmission, when directed to the stockholder. A stockholder may revoke such stockholder’s consent to receiving notice by means of electronic communication by giving written notice of such revocation to the Corporation. Any such consent shall be deemed revoked if (1) the Corporation is unable to deliver by electronic transmission two consecutive notices given by the Corporation in accordance with such consent and (2) such inability becomes known to the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary or to the Corporation’s transfer agent, or other person responsible for the giving of notice; provided, however, the inadvertent failure to treat such inability as a revocation shall not invalidate any meeting or other action.

 

(c)          Electronic Transmission. “Electronic transmission” means any form of communication, not directly involving the physical transmission of paper, that creates a record that may be retained, retrieved and reviewed by a recipient thereof, and that may be directly reproduced in paper form by such a recipient through an automated process, including but not limited to transmission by telex, facsimile telecommunication, electronic mail, telegram and cablegram.

 

(d)         Notice to Stockholders Sharing Same Address. Without limiting the manner by which notice otherwise may be given effectively by the Corporation to stockholders, any notice to stockholders given by the Corporation under any provision of the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws shall be effective if given by a single written notice to stockholders who share an address if consented to by the stockholders at that address to whom such notice is given. A stockholder may revoke such stockholder’s consent by delivering written notice of such revocation to the Corporation. Any stockholder who fails to object in writing to the Corporation within 60 days of having been given written notice by the Corporation of its intention to send such a single written notice shall be deemed to have consented to receiving such single written notice.

 

(e)          Exceptions to Notice Requirements.

 

(i)         Whenever notice is required to be given, under the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws, to any person with whom communication is unlawful, the giving of such notice to such person shall not be required and there shall be no duty to apply to any governmental authority or agency for a license or permit to give such notice to such person. Any action or meeting that shall be taken or held without notice to any such person with whom communication is unlawful shall have the same force and effect as if such notice had been duly given. In the event that the action taken by the Corporation is such as to require the filing of a certificate with the Secretary of State of Delaware, the certificate shall state, if such is the fact and if notice is required, that notice was given to all persons entitled to receive notice except such persons with whom communication is unlawful.

 

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(ii)         Whenever notice is required to be given by the Corporation, under any provision of the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws, to any stockholder to whom (1) notice of two consecutive annual meetings of stockholders and all notices of stockholder meetings or of the taking of action by written consent of stockholders without a meeting to such stockholder during the period between such two consecutive annual meetings, or (2) all, and at least two payments (if sent by first-class mail) of dividends or interest on securities during a 12-month period, have been mailed addressed to such stockholder at such stockholder’s address as shown on the records of the Corporation and have been returned undeliverable, the giving of such notice to such stockholder shall not be required. Any action or meeting that shall be taken or held without notice to such stockholder shall have the same force and effect as if such notice had been duly given. If any such stockholder shall deliver to the Corporation a written notice setting forth such stockholder’s then current address, the requirement that notice be given to such stockholder shall be reinstated. In the event that the action taken by the Corporation is such as to require the filing of a certificate with the Secretary of State of Delaware, the certificate need not state that notice was not given to persons to whom notice was not required to be given pursuant to Section 230(b) of the DGCL. The exception in subsection (1) of the first sentence of this paragraph to the requirement that notice be given shall not be applicable to any notice returned as undeliverable if the notice was given by electronic transmission.

 

Section 9.04       Waiver of Notice. Whenever any notice is required to be given under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, or these By-laws, a written waiver of such notice, signed by the person or persons entitled to said notice, or a waiver by electronic transmission by the person entitled to said notice, whether before or after the time stated therein, shall be deemed equivalent to such required notice. All such waivers shall be kept with the books of the Corporation. Attendance at a meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice of such meeting, except where a person attends for the express purpose of objecting to the transaction of any business on the ground that the meeting was not lawfully called or convened.

 

Section 9.05       Meeting Attendance via Remote Communication Equipment.

 

(a)          Stockholder Meetings. If authorized by the Board in its sole discretion, and subject to such guidelines and procedures as the Board may adopt, stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting and proxy holders not physically present at a meeting of stockholders may, by means of remote communication:

 

(i)          participate in a meeting of stockholders; and

 

(ii)         be deemed present in person and vote at a meeting of stockholders, whether such meeting is to be held at a designated place or solely by means of remote communication, provided that (A) the Corporation shall implement reasonable measures to verify that each person deemed present and permitted to vote at the meeting by means of remote communication is a stockholder or proxy holder, (B) the Corporation shall implement reasonable measures to provide such stockholders and proxy holders a reasonable opportunity to participate in the meeting and, if entitled to vote, to vote on matters submitted to the applicable stockholders, including an opportunity to read or hear the proceedings of the meeting substantially concurrently with such proceedings, and (C) if any stockholder or proxy holder votes or takes other action at the meeting by means of remote communication, a record of such votes or other action shall be maintained by the Corporation.

 

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(b)         Board Meetings. Unless otherwise restricted by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws, members of the Board or any committee thereof may participate in a meeting of the Board or any committee thereof by means of conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other. Such participation in a meeting shall constitute presence in person at the meeting, except where a person participates in the meeting for the express purpose of objecting to the transaction of any business on the ground that the meeting was not lawfully called or convened.

 

Section 9.06       . Dividends. The Board may from time to time declare, and the Corporation may pay, dividends (payable in cash, property or shares of the Corporation’s capital stock) on the Corporation’s outstanding shares of capital stock, subject to applicable law and the Certificate of Incorporation.

 

Section 9.07       Reserves. The Board may set apart out of the funds of the Corporation available for dividends a reserve or reserves for any proper purpose and may abolish any such reserve.

 

Section 9.08      Contracts and Negotiable Instruments. Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By-laws, any contract, bond, deed, lease, mortgage or other instrument may be executed and delivered in the name and on behalf of the Corporation by such officer or officers or other employee or employees of the Corporation as the Board may from time to time authorize. Such authority may be general or confined to specific instances as the Board may determine. The Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, the President, the Chief Financial Officer, the Treasurer or any Vice President may execute and deliver any contract, bond, deed, lease, mortgage or other instrument in the name and on behalf of the Corporation. Subject to any restrictions imposed by the Board, the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President, the Chief Financial Officer, the Treasurer or any Vice President may delegate powers to execute and deliver any contract, bond, deed, lease, mortgage or other instrument in the name and on behalf of the Corporation to other officers or employees of the Corporation under such person’s supervision and authority, it being understood, however, that any such delegation of power shall not relieve such officer of responsibility with respect to the exercise of such delegated power.

 

Section 9.09        Fiscal Year. The fiscal year of the Corporation shall be fixed by the Board.

 

Section 9.10       Seal. The Board may adopt a corporate seal, which shall be in such form as the Board determines. The seal may be used by causing it or a facsimile thereof to be impressed, affixed or otherwise reproduced.

 

Section 9.11        Books and Records. The books and records of the Corporation may be kept within or outside the State of Delaware at such place or places as may from time to time be designated by the Board.

 

Section 9.12       Resignation. Any director, committee member or officer may resign by giving notice thereof in writing or by electronic transmission to the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, the President or the Secretary. The resignation shall take effect at the time it is delivered unless the resignation specifies a later effective date or an effective date determined upon the happening of an event or events. Unless otherwise specified therein, the acceptance of such resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective.

 

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Section 9.13       Surety Bonds. Such officers, employees and agents of the Corporation (if any) as the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President or the Board may direct, from time to time, shall be bonded for the faithful performance of their duties and for the restoration to the Corporation, in case of their death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal from office, of all books, papers, vouchers, money and other property of whatever kind in their possession or under their control belonging to the Corporation, in such amounts and by such surety companies as the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President or the Board may determine. The premiums on such bonds shall be paid by the Corporation and the bonds so furnished shall be in the custody of the Secretary.

 

Section 9.14       Securities of Other Corporations. Powers of attorney, proxies, waivers of notice of meeting, consents in writing and other instruments relating to securities owned by the Corporation may be executed in the name of and on behalf of the Corporation by the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President, any Vice President or any officers authorized by the Board. Any such officer, may, in the name of and on behalf of the Corporation, take all such action as any such officer may deem advisable to vote in person or by proxy at any meeting of security holders of any corporation in which the Corporation may own securities, or to consent in writing, in the name of the Corporation as such holder, to any action by such corporation, and at any such meeting or with respect to any such consent shall possess and may exercise any and all rights and power incident to the ownership of such securities and which, as the owner thereof, the Corporation might have exercised and possessed. The Board may from time to time confer like powers upon any other person or persons.

 

Section 9.15       Amendments. The Board shall have the power to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the By-laws. The affirmative vote of a majority of the Board shall be required to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the By-laws. The By-laws also may be adopted, amended, altered or repealed by the stockholders; provided, however, that in addition to any vote of the holders of any class or series of capital stock of the Corporation required by applicable law or the Certificate of Incorporation, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power (except as otherwise provided in Section 8.07) of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, shall be required for the stockholders to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the By-laws.

 

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EX-4.2 4 tm2192661d1_ex4-2.htm EXHIBIT 4.2

 

Exhibit 4.2

 

NUMBER _____ ______________ SHARES
SEE REVERSE FOR CERTAIN DEFINITIONS  
CUSIP [        ]

 

1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

A DELAWARE CORPORATION

CLASS A COMMON STOCK

 

This Certifies that    
     
is the owner of    

 

FULLY PAID AND NON-ASSESSABLE SHARES OF CLASS A COMMON STOCK, $0.0001 PAR VALUE PER SHARE EACH, OF

 

1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

(THE “CORPORATION”)

 

transferable on the books of the Corporation in person or by duly authorized attorney upon surrender of this certificate properly endorsed.

 

The Corporation must redeem all of its shares of Class A common stock and liquidate if it is unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the date of the completion of the Corporation’s initial public offering (excluding any overallotment exercise), as more fully described in the Corporation’s final prospectus relating to the initial public offering of its Class A common stock as a part of the units being offered by it dated, [ ] 2021.

 

This certificate is not valid unless countersigned by the Transfer Agent and registered by the Registrar of the Corporation.

 

Witness the facsimile signatures of its duly authorized officers.

 

         
President   Delaware   Secretary

Transfer Agent:

     
Name:    
Title:    

 

1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

 

The Corporation will furnish without charge to each stockholder who so requests the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of shares or series thereof of the Corporation and the qualifications, limitations, or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights. This certificate and the shares represented hereby are issued and shall be held subject to all the provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation and all amendments thereto and resolutions of the Board of Directors providing for the issue of securities (copies of which may be obtained from the secretary of the Corporation), to all of which the holder(s) of this certificate by acceptance hereof assent(s).

 

-1-

 

 

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 sell(s), assign(s) and transfer(s) unto

 

(PLEASE INSERT SOCIAL SECURITY OR OTHER IDENTIFYING NUMBER(S) OF ASSIGNEE(S))
(PLEASE PRINT OR TYPEWRITE NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES), INCLUDING ZIP CODE, OF ASSIGNEE(S))

______________________ Shares of the capital stock represented by the within Certificate, and do(es) hereby irrevocably constitute(s) and appoint(s)                                   attorney to transfer the said shares on the books of the within named Corporation with full power of substitution in the premises

Dated:

 
NOTICE: THE SIGNATURE(S) TO THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST CORRESPOND WITH THE NAME(S) AS WRITTEN UPON THE FACE OF THE CERTIFICATE IN EVERY PARTICULAR, WITHOUT ALTERATION OR ENLARGEMENT OR ANY CHANGE WHATEVER.
 
Signature(s) Guaranteed By:
 

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).

 

As more fully described in the Corporation’s final prospectus dated, 2021, the holder(s) of this certificate shall be entitled to receive a pro-rata portion of funds from the trust account referred to therein only in the event that (a) the Corporation redeems the shares of Class A Common Stock sold in its initial public offering because it does not acquire, engage in a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, involving the Corporation and one or more businesses (a “Business Combination”) within 24 months from the date of the completion of the Corporation’s initial public offering (excluding any overallotment exercise), or (b) the holder(s) seek(s) to redeem for cash his, her or its respective shares of Class A Common Stock sold in the Corporation’s initial public offering (“Public Shares”) in connection with (i) a tender offer (or proxy, solely in the event the Corporation is required to seek stockholder approval of the proposed Business Combination) setting forth the details of a proposed Business Combination or (ii) the Corporation seeking stockholder approval of an amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation (x) to modify the timing or substance of its obligation to repurchase 100% of Public Shares if the Corporation does not complete an initial Business Combination within the 24 month timeframe or (y) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity. 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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EX-10.6 5 tm2192661d1_ex10-6.htm EXHIBIT 10.6

 

Exhibit 10.6

 

THE OFFER AND SALE OF THIS PROMISSORY NOTE (THIS “NOTE”) HAS NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”). THIS NOTE HAS BEEN ACQUIRED FOR INVESTMENT ONLY AND MAY NOT BE SOLD, TRANSFERRED OR ASSIGNED IN THE ABSENCE OF REGISTRATION OF THE RESALE THEREOF UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR AN OPINION OF COUNSEL REASONABLY SATISFACTORY IN FORM, SCOPE AND SUBSTANCE TO THE COMPANY THAT SUCH REGISTRATION IS NOT REQUIRED.

 

PROMISSORY NOTE

 

Principal Amount:  Up to $300,000

Dated as of February 25, 2021

New York, New York

 

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation and blank check company (the “Maker”), promises to pay to the order of 1Sharpe SPAC Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company or its registered assigns or successors in interest (together, the “Payee”), the principal sum of up to Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000) (the “Maximum Amount”) in lawful money of the United States of America, on the terms and conditions described below. All payments on this Note shall be made by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds, or as otherwise determined by Maker, to such account as Payee may from time to time designate by Notice (as defined in Section 9) to Maker in accordance with the provisions of this Note.

 

1.            Principal. The principal balance of this Note shall be payable by Maker on the earlier of: (i) December 31, 2021 (the “Maturity Date”) or (ii) the date on which Maker consummates an initial public offering of its securities (the “IPO”). The principal balance may be prepaid at any time. Under no circumstances shall any individual, including but not limited to any officer, director, employee or shareholder of Maker, be obligated personally for any obligations or liabilities of Maker hereunder.

 

2.            Interest. No interest shall accrue on the unpaid principal balance of this Note.

 

3.            Drawdown Requests. Maker and Payee agree that Maker may request up to the Maximum Amount for costs reasonably related to Maker’s initial public offering of its securities. The principal of this Note may be drawn down from time to time prior to the earlier of: (i) December 31, 2021 or (ii) the date on which Maker consummates an initial public offering of its securities, upon written request from Maker to Payee (each, a “Drawdown Request”). Each Drawdown Request must state the amount to be drawn down, and must not be an amount less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000), unless agreed upon by Maker and Payee. Payee shall fund each Drawdown Request no later than five business days after receipt of a Drawdown Request; provided, however, that the maximum amount of drawdowns collectively under this Note shall not exceed the Maximum Amount. Once an amount is drawn down under this Note, such amount shall not be available for future Drawdown Requests, even if such amount is prepaid. No fees, payments or other amounts shall be due to Payee in connection with, or as a result of, any Drawdown Request by Maker. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all payments shall be applied, first, to payment in full of any costs incurred in the collection of any sum due under this Note, including (without limitation) reasonable attorneys’ fees, and second, to the reduction of the unpaid principal balance of this Note.

 

4.            Application of Payments. All payments shall be applied, first, to payment in full of any costs incurred in the collection of any sum due under this Note, including (without limitation) reasonable attorney’s fees, second, to the payment in full of any late charges, and third, to the reduction of the unpaid principal balance of this Note.

 

5.            Events of Default. The following events shall constitute an event of default (“Event of Default”):

 

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5.1            Failure to Make Required Payments. The failure by Maker to pay the principal amount due pursuant to this Note within five business days of the Maturity Date.

 

5.2            Voluntary Bankruptcy, Etc. The: (a) commencement by Maker of a voluntary case under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, rehabilitation or other similar law; (b) consent by Maker to the appointment of or taking possession by a receiver, liquidator, assignee, trustee, custodian, sequestrator (or other similar official) of Maker for any substantial part of its property, (c) making by Maker of any assignment for the benefit of creditors; (d) the failure of Maker generally to pay its debts as such debts become due; or (e) taking of any corporate action by Maker in furtherance of any of the foregoing events described in Section 5.2(a) – Section 5.2(d).

 

5.3            Involuntary Bankruptcy, Etc. The: (a)(i) entry of a decree or order for relief by a court having jurisdiction in the premises in respect of Maker in an involuntary case under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or other similar law, (ii) appointment of a receiver, liquidator, assignee, custodian, trustee, sequestrator (or similar official) of Maker or for any substantial part of its property, or (iii) the ordering of the winding-up or liquidation of Maker’s affairs; and (b) continuance of any such decree, appointment, or order unstayed and in effect for a period of 60 consecutive days.

 

6.            Remedies.

 

6.1            Upon the occurrence of an Event of Default specified in Section 5.1, Payee may, by Notice to Maker, declare this Note to be due immediately and payable by Maker, whereupon the unpaid principal amount of this Note, and all other amounts payable hereunder, shall become immediately due and payable without presentment, demand, protest or other notice of any kind, all of which are hereby expressly waived, notwithstanding anything contained herein or in the documents evidencing the same to the contrary.

 

6.2            Upon the occurrence of an Event of Default specified in Section 5.2 and Section 5.3, the unpaid principal balance of this Note, and all other sums payable with regard to this Note, shall automatically and immediately become due and payable by Maker, in all cases without any action on the part of Payee.

 

7.            Waivers. Maker and all endorsers and guarantors of, and sureties for, this Note waive: (a) presentment for payment, demand, notice of dishonor, protest, and notice of protest with regard to the Note; (b) all errors, defects and imperfections in any proceedings instituted by Payee under the terms of this Note; and (c) all benefits that might accrue to Maker by virtue of any present or future laws (i) exempting any property, real or personal, or any part of the proceeds arising from any sale of any such real or personal property, from attachment, levy or sale under execution, or (ii) providing for any stay of execution, exemption from civil process, or extension of time for payment. Maker agrees that any real estate that may be levied upon pursuant to a judgment obtained by virtue hereof or any writ of execution issued hereon, may be sold upon any such writ in whole or in part in any order desired by Payee.

 

8.            Unconditional Liability. Maker hereby waives all notices in connection with the delivery, acceptance, performance, default, or enforcement of the payment of this Note, and agrees that Maker’s liability shall be unconditional, without regard to the liability of any other party, and shall not be affected in any manner by any indulgence, extension of time, renewal, waiver or modification granted or consented to by Payee. Maker consents to any and all extensions of time, renewals, waivers, or modifications that may be granted by Payee with respect to the payment or other provisions of this Note. Maker agrees that additional makers, endorsers, guarantors, or sureties may become parties hereto without either any Notice to Maker or any bearing on Maker’s liability hereunder.

 

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9.            Notices. All notices, requests, consents, claims, demands, waivers, and other communications hereunder (each, a “Notice”) shall be in writing and addressed to the parties at the addresses set forth on the first page of this Agreement (or to such other address that may be designated by the receiving party from time to time in accordance with this Section 9). A Notice shall be deemed to have been given (a) when delivered by hand (with written confirmation of receipt); (b) when received by the addressee if sent by a nationally recognized overnight courier (receipt requested); (c) on the date sent by facsimile or email (with confirmation of transmission) if sent during normal business hours of the recipient, and on the next business day if sent after normal business hours of the recipient; or (d) on the third day after the date mailed, by certified or registered mail (in each case, return receipt requested, postage pre-paid). .

 

10.            Construction. THIS NOTE SHALL BE CONSTRUED AND ENFORCED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF NEW YORK, WITHOUT REGARD TO CONFLICT OF LAW PROVISIONS THEREOF.

 

11.            Severability. Any provision contained in this Note which is prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof, and any such prohibition or unenforceability in any jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction.

 

12.            Trust Waiver. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, Payee hereby waives any and all right, title, interest or claim of any kind (each, a “Claim”) in or to any distribution of or from the trust account to be established (the “Trust Account”), in which the proceeds of both the (a) IPO (including the deferred underwriters discounts and commissions) and (b) sale of the warrants to be issued in a private placement to occur at the closing of the IPO are to be deposited, as described in greater detail in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 and prospectus to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the IPO. Payee hereby agrees not to seek recourse, reimbursement, payment or satisfaction for any Claim against the Trust Account for any reason whatsoever.

 

13.            Amendment; Waiver. Any amendment hereto or waiver of any provision hereof may be made with, and only with, the written consent of both Maker and Payee.

 

14.            Assignment. No assignment or transfer of this Note or any rights or obligations hereunder may be made by any party hereto (by operation of law or otherwise) without the prior written consent of the other party hereto. Any attempted assignment without the required consent shall be void.

 

[Signature page follows]

 

- 3 -

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Maker, intending to be legally bound hereby, has caused this Note to be duly executed by the undersigned as of the day and year first above written.

 

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp.
   
 By: /s/ Gregor Watson
 Name: Gregor Watson
 Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

[Signature Page to Promissory Note]

 

EX-14.1 6 tm2192661d1_ex14-1.htm EXHIBIT 14.1

 

Exhibit 14.1

 

FORM OF
CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT AND ETHICS
OF
1SHARPE ACQUISITION CORP.

 

1.Introduction

 

The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of 1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. has adopted this code of business conduct and ethics (this “Code”), as amended from time to time by the Board and which is applicable to all of the Company’s directors, officers and employees (to the extent that employees are hired in the future) to:

 

·promote honest and ethical conduct, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal and professional relationships;
·promote the full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure in reports and documents that the Company files with, or submits to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), as well as in other public communications made by or on behalf of the Company;
·promote compliance with applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations;
·deter wrongdoing; and
·require prompt internal reporting of breaches of, and accountability for adherence to, this Code.

 

This Code may be amended and modified by the Board. In this Code, references to the “Company” mean 1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. and, in appropriate context, the Company’s subsidiaries, if any.

 

2.Honest, Ethical and Fair Conduct

 

Each person owes a duty to the Company to act with integrity. Integrity requires, among other things, being honest, fair and candid. Deceit, dishonesty and subordination of principle are inconsistent with integrity. Service to the Company should never be subordinated to personal gain and advantage.

 

Each person must:

 

·Act with integrity, including being honest and candid while still maintaining the confidentiality of the Company’s information where required or when in the Company’s interests;
·Observe all applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations;
·Comply with the requirements of applicable accounting and auditing standards, as well as Company policies, in order to maintain a high standard of accuracy and completeness in the Company’s financial records and other business-related information and data;
·Adhere to a high standard of business ethics and not seek competitive advantage through unlawful or unethical business practices;
·Deal fairly with the Company’s customers, suppliers, competitors, employees, and independent contractors;
·Refrain from taking advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts or any other unfair-dealing practice;
·Protect the assets of the Company and ensure their proper use;
·Until the earliest of (i) the Company’s initial business combination (as such is defined in the Company’s initial registration statement filed with the SEC), (ii) liquidation, or (iii) such time as such person ceases to be an officer or director of the Company, to first present to the Company for its consideration, prior to presentation to any other entity, any business opportunity suitable for the Company, subject to the Company’s certificate of incorporation in effect from time to time and to any other fiduciary or contractual obligations such officer or director may have; and

 

 

 

 

·Avoid conflicts of interest, wherever possible, except as may be allowed under guidelines or resolutions approved by the Board (or the appropriate committee of the Board) or as disclosed in the Company’s public filings with the SEC. Anything that would be a conflict for a person subject to this Code also will be a conflict for a member of his or her immediate family or any other close relative. Examples of conflict of interest situations include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

·any significant ownership interest in any supplier or customer;
·any consulting or employment relationship with any supplier or customer;
·the receipt of any money, non-nominal gifts or excessive entertainment from any entity with which the Company has current or prospective business dealings;
·selling anything to the Company or buying anything from the Company, except on the same terms and conditions as comparable officers or directors are permitted to so purchase or sell;
·any other financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the Company; and
·any other circumstance, event, relationship or situation in which the personal interest of a person subject to this Code interferes - or even appears to interfere - with the interests of the Company as a whole.

 

3.Disclosure

 

The Company strives to ensure that the contents of and the disclosures in the reports and documents that the Company files with the SEC and other public communications shall be full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable in accordance with applicable disclosure standards, including standards of materiality, where appropriate. Each person must:

 

·not knowingly misrepresent, or cause others to misrepresent, facts about the Company to others, whether within or outside the Company, including to the Company’s independent registered public accountants, governmental regulators, self-regulating organizations and other governmental officials, as appropriate; and
·in relation to his or her area of responsibility, properly review and critically analyze proposed disclosure for accuracy and completeness.

 

In addition to the foregoing, the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) of the Company and each subsidiary of the Company (or persons performing similar functions), and each other person that typically is involved in the financial reporting of the Company must familiarize himself or herself with the disclosure requirements applicable to the Company as well as the business and financial operations of the Company.

 

Each person must promptly bring to the attention of the Chairman of the Board any information he or she may have concerning (a) significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal and/or disclosure controls that could adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial data or (b) any fraud that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s financial reporting, disclosures or internal controls.

 

4.Compliance

 

It is the Company’s obligation and policy to comply with all applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations. All directors, officers and employees of the Company are expected to understand, respect and comply with all of the laws, regulations, policies and procedures that apply to them in their positions with the Company. Employees are responsible for talking to their supervisors to determine which laws, regulations and Company policies apply to their position and what training is necessary to understand and comply with them.

 

Directors, officers and employees are directed to specific policies and procedures available to persons they supervise.

 

5.Reporting and Accountability

 

The Board is responsible for applying this Code to specific situations in which questions are presented to it and has the authority to interpret this Code in any particular situation. Any person who becomes aware of any existing or potential breach of this Code is required to notify the Chairman of the Board promptly. Failure to do so is, in and of itself, a breach of this Code.

 

-2-

 

 

Specifically, each person must:

 

·notify the Chairman of the Board promptly of any existing or potential violation of this Code; and
·not retaliate against any other person for reports of potential violations that are made in good faith.

 

The Company will follow the following procedures in investigating and enforcing this Code and in reporting on this Code:

 

·The Board will take all appropriate action to investigate any breaches reported to it.
·Upon determination by the Board that a breach has occurred, the Board (by majority decision) will take or authorize such disciplinary or preventive action as it deems appropriate, after consultation with the Company’s internal or external legal counsel, up to and including dismissal or, in the event of criminal or other serious violations of law, notification of the SEC or other appropriate law enforcement authorities.

 

No person following the above procedure shall, as a result of following such procedure, be subject by the Company or any officer or employee thereof to discharge, demotion suspension, threat, harassment or, in any manner, discrimination against such person in terms and conditions of employment.

 

6.Waivers and Amendments

 

Any waiver (defined below) or an implicit waiver (defined below) from a provision of this Code for the principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, and persons performing similar functions or any amendment (as defined below) to this Code is required to be disclosed in a current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC. In lieu of filing a current report on Form 8-K to report any such waivers or amendments, the Company may provide such information on a website, in the event that it establishes one in the future, and if it keeps such information on the website for at least 12 months and discloses the website address as well as any intention to provide such disclosures in this manner in its most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

A “waiver” means the approval by the Board of a material departure from a provision of this Code. An “implicit waiver” means the Company’s failure to take action within a reasonable period of time regarding a material departure from a provision of this Code that has been made known to an executive officer of the Company. An “amendment” means any amendment to this Code other than minor technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments hereto.

 

All persons should note that it is not the Company’s intention to grant or to permit waivers from the requirements of this Code. The Company expects full compliance with this Code.

 

7.Insider Information and Securities Trading

 

No person who is aware of material, non-public information about the Company may, directly or indirectly, buy or sell the Company’s securities or engage in another action to take advantage of such information. It is also against the law to trade or to “tip” others who might make an investment decision based on material, non-public information about the Company. For example, using material, non-public information to buy or sell the Company’s securities, options in the Company’s securities or the securities of any Company supplier, customer or competitor is prohibited. The consequences of insider trading violations can be severe. These rules also apply to the use of material, nonpublic information about other companies (including, for example, our customers, competitors and potential business partners). In addition to directors, officers or employees, these rules apply to each such person’s spouse, children, parents and siblings, as well as any other family members living in such person’s home.

 

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8.Financial Statements and Other Records

 

All of the Company’s books, records, accounts and financial statements must be maintained in reasonable detail, must appropriately reflect the Company’s transactions and must both conform to applicable legal requirements and to the Company’s system of internal controls. Unrecorded or “off the books” funds or assets should not be maintained unless permitted by applicable law or regulation.

 

Records should always be retained or destroyed according to the Company’s record retention policies. In accordance with those policies, in the event of litigation or governmental investigation, please consult the Board or the Company’s internal or external legal counsel.

 

9.Improper Influence on Conduct of Audits

 

No director or officer, or any other person acting under the direction thereof, shall directly or indirectly take any action to coerce, manipulate, mislead or fraudulently influence any public or certified public accountant engaged in the performance of an audit or review of the financial statements of the Company or take any action that such person knows or should know that if successful could result in rendering the Company’s financial statements materially misleading. Any person who believes such improper influence is being exerted should report such action to such person’s supervisor, or if that is impractical under the circumstances, to any of our directors.

 

Types of conduct that could constitute improper influence include, but are not limited to, directly or indirectly:

 

·Offering or paying bribes or other financial incentives, including future employment or contracts for non-audit services;
·Providing an auditor with an inaccurate or misleading legal analysis;
·Threatening to cancel or canceling existing non-audit or audit engagements if the auditor objects to the Company’s accounting;
·Seeking to have a partner removed from the audit engagement because the partner objects to the Company’s accounting;
·Blackmailing; and
·Making physical threats.

 

10.Anti-Corruption Laws

 

The Company complies with the anti-corruption laws of the countries in which it does business, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. To the extent prohibited by applicable law, directors, officers and employees will not directly or indirectly give anything of value to government officials, including employees of state-owned enterprises or foreign political candidates. These requirements apply both to Company employees and agents, such as third party sales representatives, no matter where they are doing business. If you are authorized to engage agents, you are responsible for ensuring they are reputable and for obtaining a written agreement to uphold the Company’s standards in this area.

 

11.Violations

 

Violation of this Code is grounds for disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. Such action is in addition to any civil or criminal liability which might be imposed by any court or regulatory agency.

 

12.Other Policies and Procedures

 

The requirements of any other policy or procedure set out by the Company in writing or made generally known to employees, officers or directors of the Company prior to the date hereof or hereafter are separate requirements and remain in full force and effect.

 

13.Inquiries

 

All inquiries and questions in relation to this Code or its applicability to particular people or situations should be addressed to the Company’s Secretary, or such other compliance officer as shall be designated from time to time by the Company.

 

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PROVISIONS FOR
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND SENIOR FINANCIAL OFFICERS

 

The CEO and all senior financial officers, including the CFO and principal accounting officer or controller, are bound by the provisions set forth herein relating to ethical conduct, conflicts of interest, and compliance with law. In addition to this Code, the CEO and senior financial officers are subject to the following additional specific policies:

 

1.       Act with honesty and integrity, avoiding actual or apparent conflicts between personal, private interests and the interests of the Company, including receiving improper personal benefits as a result of his or her position.

 

2.       Disclose to the CEO and the Board any material transaction or relationship that reasonably could be expected to give rise to a conflict of interest.

 

3.       Perform responsibilities with a view to causing periodic reports and documents filed with or submitted to the SEC and all other public communications made by the Company to contain information that is accurate, complete, fair, objective, relevant, timely and understandable, including full review of all annual and quarterly reports.

 

4.       Comply with laws, rules and regulations of federal, state and local governments applicable to the Company and with the rules and regulations of private and public regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the Company.

 

5.       Act in good faith, responsibly, with due care, competence and diligence, without misrepresenting or omitting material facts or allowing independent judgment to be compromised or subordinated.

 

6.       Respect the confidentiality of information acquired in the course of performance of his or her responsibilities except when authorized or otherwise legally obligated to disclose any such information; not use confidential information acquired in the course of performing his or her responsibilities for personal advantage.

 

7.       Share knowledge and maintain skills important and relevant to the needs of the Company, its stockholders and other constituencies and the general public.

 

8.       Proactively promote ethical behavior among subordinates and peers in his or her work environment and community.

 

9.       Use and control all corporate assets and resources employed by or entrusted to him or her in a responsible manner.

 

10.    Not use corporate information, corporate assets, corporate opportunities or his or her position with the Company for personal gain; not compete directly or indirectly with the Company, subject to the Company’s certificate of incorporation in effect from time to time and to any other fiduciary or contractual obligations such officer may have.

 

11.    Comply in all respects with this Code.

 

12.    Advance the Company’s legitimate interests when the opportunity arises.

 

The Board will investigate any reported violations and will oversee an appropriate response, including corrective action and preventative measures. Any officer who violates this Code will face appropriate, case specific disciplinary action, which may include demotion or discharge.

 

Any request for a waiver of any provision of this Code must be in writing and addressed to the Chairman of the Board. Any waiver of this Code will be disclosed as provided in Section 6 of this Code.

 

It is the policy of the Company that each officer covered by this Code shall acknowledge and certify to the foregoing annually and file a copy of such certification with the Chairman of the Board.

 

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EX-23.1 7 tm2192661d1_ex23-1.htm EXHIBIT 23.1

 

Exhibit 23.1

 

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

We hereby consent to the use in the Prospectus constituting a part of this Registration Statement on Form S-1 of our report dated March 12, 2021, relating to the financial statements of 1Sharpe Acquisition Corp., which is contained in that Prospectus. We also consent to the reference to our Firm under the caption “Experts” in the Prospectus.

 

/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC  
   
New York, New York  
March 12, 2021  

 

 

 

EX-99.3 8 tm2192661d1_ex99-3.htm EXHIBIT 99.3

 

Exhibit 99.3

 

CONSENT OF TO BE NAMED AS A DIRECTOR NOMINEE

 

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. intends to file a Registration Statement on Form S-1 (together with any amendments or supplements thereto, the “Registration Statement”) registering securities for issuance in its initial public offering. As required by Rule 438 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned hereby consents to being named in the Registration Statement as a Director Nominee. The undersigned also consents to the filing of this consent as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and any amendments thereto.

 

Dated: March 12, 2021 Signature: /s/ Charles Haldeman, Jr.
  Name: Charles Haldeman, Jr.

 

 

 

EX-99.4 9 tm2192661d1_ex99-4.htm EXHIBIT 99.4

 

Exhibit 99.4

 

CONSENT OF TO BE NAMED AS A DIRECTOR NOMINEE

 

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. intends to file a Registration Statement on Form S-1 (together with any amendments or supplements thereto, the “Registration Statement”) registering securities for issuance in its initial public offering. As required by Rule 438 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned hereby consents to being named in the Registration Statement as a Director Nominee. The undersigned also consents to the filing of this consent as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and any amendments thereto.

 

Dated: March 12, 2021 Signature: /s/ Jacob Seid
  Name: Jacob Seid

 

 

 

EX-99.5 10 tm2192661d1_ex99-5.htm EXHIBIT 99.5

 

Exhibit 99.5

 

CONSENT OF TO BE NAMED AS A DIRECTOR NOMINEE

 

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. intends to file a Registration Statement on Form S-1 (together with any amendments or supplements thereto, the “Registration Statement”) registering securities for issuance in its initial public offering. As required by Rule 438 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned hereby consents to being named in the Registration Statement as a Director Nominee. The undersigned also consents to the filing of this consent as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and any amendments thereto.

 

Dated: March 12, 2021 Signature: /s/ Suzanne Klahr
  Name: Suzanne Klahr

 

 

 

EX-99.6 11 tm2192661d1_ex99-6.htm EXHIBIT 99.6

 

Exhibit 99.6

 

CONSENT OF TO BE NAMED AS A DIRECTOR NOMINEE

 

1Sharpe Acquisition Corp. intends to file a Registration Statement on Form S-1 (together with any amendments or supplements thereto, the “Registration Statement”) registering securities for issuance in its initial public offering. As required by Rule 438 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned hereby consents to being named in the Registration Statement as a Director Nominee. The undersigned also consents to the filing of this consent as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and any amendments thereto.

 

Dated: March 12, 2021 Signature: /s/ Richard Boyle, Jr.
  Name: Richard Boyle, Jr.