UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended
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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) |
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(IRS Employer Identification No.) |
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(Address of principal executive offices) |
(Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Trading Symbol(s) |
Name of each exchange on which registered |
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Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files).
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 definition of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.:
Large accelerated filer ☐ |
Accelerated filer ☐ |
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Smaller reporting company |
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Emerging growth company |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by the check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C.7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes
The aggregate market value of the common voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of the last business day of the Company’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, June 30, 2021, was $
As of March 30, 2022, there were
Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This annual report includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements may include, for example, statements about:
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our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
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our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
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our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses; |
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our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
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our directors and officers allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
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our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
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our pool of prospective target businesses; |
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our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak; |
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the ability of our directors and officers to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
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our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
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the lack of a market for our securities; |
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the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
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the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; |
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our financial performance following our IPO; and |
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the other risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading “Risk Factors.” |
The forward-looking statements contained in this report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and
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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.
Unless otherwise stated in this report or the context otherwise requires, references to:
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“BuildGroup” are to BuildGroup Management, LLC, the investment manager of BuildGroup LLC; |
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“common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock; |
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“directors” are to our current directors named in this report; |
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“equity-linked securities” are to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for shares of our 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; |
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“founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to our IPO and our shares of Class A common stock that will be issued upon conversion thereof as provided therein; |
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“initial stockholders” are to our sponsor and the other holders of our founder shares prior to our IPO (if any); |
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“IPO” means our initial public offering of units; |
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“letter agreement” are to the letter agreement among us, our sponsor and our officers and directors concerning the founder shares and related matters; |
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“management” or our “management team” are to our directors and officers; |
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“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our IPO; |
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“public shares” are to shares of our Class A common stock sold as part of the units in our IPO (whether they are purchased in our IPO or thereafter in the open market); |
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“public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor, directors and officers to the extent our sponsor, directors or officers purchase public shares, provided their status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares; |
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“sponsor” are to Build Acquisition Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; |
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“warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in our IPO (whether they are purchased in our IPO or thereafter in the open market); and |
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“we,” “us,” “our” or our “company” are to Build Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation. |
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PART I
References in this report to “we,” “us,” “Company” or “our company” are to Build Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation.
Item 1. Business
Introduction
Build Acquisition Corp. is 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. Neither we, nor anyone on our behalf, has selected any business combination target.
While we may pursue a target in any industry, sector or geography, we intend to focus on companies in the fast-growing universe of software and technology-enabled services, with a primary focus on North American markets. Although not our exclusive focus, we are particularly interested in:
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Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”); |
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Infrastructure Software and Services (“ISS”); and |
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Financial Technology (“Fintech”). |
Company History
On March 19, 2021, we consummated the initial public offering of 20,000,000 units (the “IPO”). The units were sold at $10.00 per unit (the “units”), generating total gross proceeds of $200,000,000. Each unit consists of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A common stock”), and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to certain adjustments. Cowen and Company, LLC and Allen & Company LLC acted as book-running co-managers of our IPO. The securities in the offering were registered under the Securities Act on registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-253664). The SEC declared the registration statement effective on March 16, 2021.
Simultaneous with the consummation of our IPO, we consummated the private placement of an aggregate of 4,000,000 warrants, each exercisable to purchase one of the Company’s shares of Class A common stock for $11.50 per share (“private placement warrants”), to our sponsor at a price of $1.50 per private placement warrant, generating total proceeds of $6,000,000. Of the gross proceeds received from our IPO and the private placement warrants, $200,000,000 was placed in a trust account (the “trust account”). Each whole private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to certain adjustments.
On May 7, 2021, we announced that, commencing May 7, 2021, holders of the units may elect to separately trade the shares of Class A common stock and the warrants included in the units. Those units not separated continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “BGSX.U” and the Class A common stock and warrants that are separated trade under the symbols “BGSX” and “BGSX WS,” respectively.
Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to leverage our management team’s industry knowledge, strategic vision, operational expertise and business connections built over decades in the technology industry, in combination with the resources available to BuildGroup and its affiliates, to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company that our management and board of directors believe has compelling long-term value creation potential. We anticipate our management team will leverage its partnership, investment experience, deep network and technology industry expertise to identify and generate attractive acquisition opportunities amongst technology companies.
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We believe we possess the following tools to drive value creation through the business combination:
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Software and Technology Expertise: Our management team has deep experience managing and investing in fast-growing businesses as they scale within an evolving technology landscape. Members of our management team are operators who understand the best practices needed to scale a business over the long-term. |
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Experienced Operators: BuildGroup has deep operational and investment expertise across members of our management team for both private and public companies. BuildGroup has team members who have served in senior leadership positions for public companies and served on the board of public companies. They have experience operating businesses at scale and within the framework and regulation of public markets. They have also successfully navigated various aspects of the execution and transition from being a private company to a publicly traded company. |
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Industry Connections: Our management team has built extensive relationships across the technology ecosystem through our experience as operators, founders, investors and board members. We believe we can leverage our industry connectivity to assist in the successful selection of our initial business combination and subsequently support our target company. |
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Investment Experience: Our management team has the experience and track record investing and growing companies with a focus on returns to investors over the long term. We have a deep understanding of how to build relationships through trust and partnership, coupled with legal and financial rigor required to effect a successful transaction and drive long-term value creation. |
In addition, many companies desire to have publicly traded shares to provide liquidity to employees and investors, create a currency for mergers and acquisitions and enhance their profile for potential consumers and business partners. We believe our strong relationships with private and institutional investors will help us conduct a smooth transition into the public capital markets for a target company.
Business Combination Criteria
Consistent with our business strategy, we expect to identify companies that we believe have compelling long-term growth potential. We intend to use the below criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines.
We will seek to acquire companies or assets which align with our investment philosophy and exhibit a significant share of the following characteristics:
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Large and Growing Market: We are targeting software and technology companies with strong market growth prospects and which can benefit from the extensive expertise, networks and insights from our management team. |
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Robust Growth Opportunity: We are focused on businesses that have a promising growth trajectory. We believe that these businesses can benefit from access to incremental capital and resources to sustainably scale over the long-term. |
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Strong Competitive Advantage: We seek to invest in businesses which have compelling technology and competitive differentiation factors to successfully grow in a fast-paced, evolving technology landscape. We believe businesses and markets with high barriers to entry and strong value propositions are important aspects to drive predictable growth. |
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Established Management Team: We intend to seek companies with experienced management teams, many of whom are highly experienced operators and founders. We intend to spend significant time assessing the leadership teams and culture. |
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Technological Strength and Differentiation: We aim to evaluate metrics such as recurring revenues, cross-sell success, churn rates and pipeline over time to identify businesses whose products or services are differentiated and can provide long-term growth opportunity. |
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Opportunity to Add Value: We intend to seek businesses in which we believe we can add value through our differentiated expertise, connectivity and industry experience. We seek to be a long-term partner to drive scalable growth by leveraging our best practices and the knowledge developed through our collective experience and BuildGroup resources. |
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Benefit from Being Public: We intend to work with companies which can benefit from becoming a public entity which includes broader access to debt and equity providers, greater brand presence and/or liquidity to fund acquisitions or further growth. |
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Strong Community Involvement: We intend to identify companies that have a positive impact in the communities that they serve. We believe this is a critical element to driving sustainable, long-term value for all stakeholders. |
These criteria and guidelines are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our 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 report, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the SEC.
Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets
We believe our management team’s significant operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring, financing and selling businesses, our management team’s relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions.
In addition, members of our management team have developed contacts from serving on the boards of directors of several companies.
We believe this network provides our management team with a robust and consistent flow of acquisition opportunities that are proprietary. We believe that the network of contacts and relationships of our management team will provide us with important sources of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our initial stockholders, directors or officers. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our initial stockholders, directors or officers, we would rely on a committee of independent and disinterested directors to evaluate and negotiate the transaction terms and to recommend to our board of directors whether to proceed with the transaction. Such committee may also engage outside independent advisors to assist it with its evaluation and will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view in connection with making any recommendation to proceed with the transaction.
For additional discussion relating to potential conflicts of interest relating to sourcing of potential business combination targets, as discussed herein and in “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—
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Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us.
Our executive offices are located at 3500 Jefferson, Suite 303, Austin, Texas 78731 and our telephone number is (512) 994-2983.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer target businesses an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their capital stock, shares or other equity securities in the target business for our shares or for a combination of our shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. 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 our IPO, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company as long as (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250 million as of the end of a year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues are less than $100 million during a completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $193,800,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting fees, in each case, after estimated offering expenses of $1,200,000, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third-party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
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Effecting our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or the redemptions of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We have not selected any business combination target. If and when we select a business combination target and enter into a definitive agreement with respect to an initial business combination, we will issue a press release announcing our intention to consummate an initial business combination with such target and file the same in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account.
In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law or we decide to do so for business or other reasons, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third-party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.
Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
The NYSE rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust). We refer to this as the 80% of net assets test. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able independently to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. 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
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what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information, which will be made available to us.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business.
By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry.
Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
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solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
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dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
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We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following our initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Shareholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination
We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our certificate of incorporation. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.
Type of Transaction |
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Whether Stockholder Approval is Required |
Purchase of assets |
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No |
Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company |
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No |
Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company |
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No |
Merger of the company with a target |
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Yes |
Under the NYSE listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
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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); |
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any of our directors, officers or substantial security holders (as defined by the NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired and if the number of shares of common stock to be issued, or if the number of shares of common stock into which the securities may be convertible or exercisable, exceeds either (a) 1% of the number of shares of common stock or 1% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any of our directors and officers or (b) 5% of the number of shares of common stock or 5% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any substantial securityholders; or |
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the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which stockholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange rule will be based on business and other reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
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the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine stockholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek stockholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; |
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the expected cost of holding a stockholder vote; |
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other time and budget constraints of the company; and |
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additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to stockholders. |
Permitted purchases of our securities
In the event we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of securities such persons may purchase. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. In the event our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates determine to undertake any such transactions, such transactions could have the effect of influencing the vote necessary to approve such transaction. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions. They will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. We have adopted an insider trading policy which requires insiders to refrain from trading securities during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information.
In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules.
The purpose of such transaction could be to (1) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of our initial business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders (in the case of public shares) following our mailing of tender offer or proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination. Such persons would select the stockholders from whom to acquire shares based on the number of shares available, the negotiated price per share
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and such other factors as any such person may deem relevant at the time of purchase. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. At the completion of our initial business combination, we will be required to purchase any public shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial stockholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any Class B common stock and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our certificate of incorporation provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions. Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all public shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).
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 (1) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (2) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding common stock or seek to amend our certificate of incorporation would typically require stockholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons.
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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 certificate of incorporation:
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conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
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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 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 to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. 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, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).
If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our certificate of incorporation:
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conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
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file proxy materials with the SEC. |
We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least ten days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders 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 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 NYSE 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 our common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or at all. 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 shares of Class B common stock 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 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock entitled to vote thereon. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ shares of Class B common stock, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted), or 1,250,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted),
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of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in our IPO to be voted in favor of an initial business combination 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.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions. Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all public shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).
Limitation on redemption upon completion of our initial business combination if we seek shareholder approval
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares of common stock sold in our IPO, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our 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 our IPO could threaten to exercise its redemption rights 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 no more than 15% of the shares sold in our IPO, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights
We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve 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 a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a stockholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least ten days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy
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statement would be made available to such stockholders in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or two business days prior to the scheduled date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable (unless we elect to allow additional withdrawal rights). Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination until 24 months from the closing of our IPO.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination
Our certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only 24 months from the closing of our IPO to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such period, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.
Our initial stockholders have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their Class B common stock if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame to complete our initial business combination.
Our sponsor, directors and officers have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our
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public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. 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 following such redemptions.
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 $800,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. Please see “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to our Securities and Trust Account—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors described above. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will enter into an agreement with a third-party that has not executed a waiver only if management believes that such third-party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third-party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason.
Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third-party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our IPO 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, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our
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company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our other officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.00 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $800,000 from the proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, with which to pay any such potential claims. 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.
Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.
Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the end of our acquisition period 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 ten years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account.
As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below: (1) $10.00 per public share; or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third-party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants.
Competition
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and
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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 from our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, in the event we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we are obligated to pay cash for our shares of Class A common stock, it will potentially reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination.
Sponsor Indemnity
Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third-party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy their indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations.
Employees and Human Capital Resources
We currently have three officers and do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
Our units, Class A common stock and warrants are registered under the Exchange Act and we have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet site at http://www.sec.gov that contains such reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, U.S. GAAP or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with PCAOB standards. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the
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independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our IPO, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” will 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 as long as (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250 million as of the end of a year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues are less than $100 million during a completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Available Information
The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Our Company website can be found at https://www.buildspac.com/. Information on our website is not incorporated into this report or otherwise made part of this report.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this report, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
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Summary Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
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We are a newly incorporated company with no operating history, no revenues and no identified operating business as a target, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
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Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination. |
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Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of such business combination. |
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We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote. |
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The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target. |
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The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
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The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders. |
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Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets. |
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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities. |
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If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed. |
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You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares and/or warrants, potentially at a loss. |
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The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions. |
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You will not be entitled to certain protections afforded to investors of some other blank check companies. |
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Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
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If the funds not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing of our IPO, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination. |
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Past performance by our management team, BuildGroup and their respective affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company. |
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Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. |
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Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial stockholders will receive additional shares of Class A common stock if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination. |
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We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on stockholders. |
Risks Relating to our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.
We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable corporate law or stock exchange rules or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, the NYSE listing rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting, but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding shares or that involves a merger to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding shares or that involves a merger, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock do not approve of the business combination we consummate.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders’ vote.
Our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote their shares of Class B common stock and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ shares of Class B common stock, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted), or 1,250,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted), of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in our IPO to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to
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have such initial business combination approved. Our directors and officers have also entered into the letter agreement, imposing similar obligations on them with respect to public shares acquired by them, if any. We expect that our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock at the time of any such stockholder vote. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if such persons agreed to vote their shares of Class B common stock in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.
Your opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of such business combination.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Additionally, since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder approval. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a business combination and such amount of deferred underwriting discount is not available for us to use as consideration in an initial business combination. If we are able to consummate an initial business combination, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming stockholders will reflect our obligation to pay and the payment of the deferred underwriting commissions. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target). Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights and, therefore, we will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third-party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
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The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful increases. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this IPO. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the end of the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.
The COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in, and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in, a widespread health crisis that has adversely affected, and in the future could adversely affect, the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we may consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete an initial business combination if concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors, limit the ability to conduct due diligence or limit the ability of a potential target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for an initial business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of and perceptions to COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Finally, the outbreak of COVID-19 or other infectious diseases may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities.
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As the number of SPACs evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of SPACs that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for SPACs have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many SPACs seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many such companies currently in registration with the SEC. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, more effort and more resources to identify a suitable target and to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more SPACs seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
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 SPACs has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.
The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business 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 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.
We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us, which may include acting as M&A 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, 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, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing M&A advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing transactions. We may pay such underwriter or its affiliate fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred 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
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such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our sponsor, directors and officers have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. It may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than $10.00 per share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Any such price per share may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates are under no obligation or duty to do so and they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of our initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of our initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. This may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
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In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our directors and officers will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
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.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm regarding fairness. Consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will not obtain an opinion that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
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Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Because we are not limited to a particular industry, sector or geography or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
We may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company of any size (subject to our satisfaction of the 80% of net assets test) and in any industry, sector or geography. However, we will not, under our certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or development stage entity. Although our directors and officers will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to our investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a stockholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Risks Relating to our Securities and Trust Account
If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer or proxy materials documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the
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scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares and/or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares and/or warrants, potentially at a loss.
The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our units, Class A common stock and warrants are currently listed on the NYSE. However, we cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum number of holders of our securities. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, among other requirements, in order for our Class A common stock to be listed upon the consummation of our initial business combination, at such time, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our total market capitalization would be required to be at least $200,000,000, the aggregate market value of publicly held shares would be required to be at least $40,000,000 and we would be required to have at least 400 round lot holders. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If the NYSE delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
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a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
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reduced liquidity for our securities; |
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a determination that our Class A common stock are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
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a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
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a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
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The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996 (“NSMIA”), prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our units, Class A common stock and warrants are listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A common stock and warrants will qualify as covered securities under such statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, NSMIA does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under NSMIA and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our IPO, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, in the event we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we are obligated to pay cash for our shares of Class A common stock, it will potentially reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
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If the funds not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing of our IPO, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing of our IPO, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through our IPO and potential loans from certain of our affiliates are discussed in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” However, our affiliates are not obligated to make loans to us in the future, and we may not be able to raise additional financing from unaffiliated parties necessary to fund our expenses.
We believe that, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing of our IPO; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a ”no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
If the net proceeds from our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we may depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $800,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements.
If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their respective affiliates is under any obligation to loan funds to, or otherwise invest in, us in such circumstances. Any such loans may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present with a particular target business that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write down or write off the value of assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In
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addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any stockholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a stockholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will enter into an agreement with a third-party that has not executed a waiver only if management believes that such third-party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third-party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.
Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third-party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Our sponsor may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations, and therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our directors or officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our 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.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our public stockholders in connection with our liquidation would be reduced.
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If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including restrictions on the nature of our investments and restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
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registration as an investment company with the SEC; |
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adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
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reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to. |
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested by the trustee only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Because the investment of the proceeds will be restricted to these instruments, we believe we will meet the requirements for the exemption provided in Rule 3a-1 promulgated under the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months of the closing of our IPO, our public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond such 24 months before redemption from our trust account.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO, we will distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), pro rata to our public stockholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs, as further described herein. Any redemption of public stockholders from the trust account shall be effected automatically by function of our certificate of incorporation prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to windup, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public stockholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution are subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond the initial 24 months before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and then only in cases where investors have properly sought to redeem their shares of Class A common stock. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public stockholders be entitled to distributions if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period and do not amend certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation prior thereto.
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Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 24th month from the closing of our IPO in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
Because we do not intend to comply with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the ten years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, consultants, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
We may not hold an annual stockholder meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our stockholders to elect directors.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination (unless required by the NYSE or the DGCL) and thus may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting of stockholders be held for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with a company’s bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL. Until we hold an annual meeting of stockholders, public stockholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss company affairs with management. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, (a) as holders of our Class A common stock, our public stockholders will not have the right to vote on the election of our directors, and (b) holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class B common stock may remove a member of our board of directors for any reason.
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Holders of our Class A common stock will not be entitled to vote on any appointment of directors prior to our initial business combination.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our shares of Class B common stock will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our shares of Class B common stock may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the completion of an initial business combination.
We have not registered 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 and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We have not registered 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, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the issuance of such shares, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case, the number of shares of Class A common stock that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum amount of shares equal to 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment). However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our shares of Class A common stock are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in our IPO. In such an instance, our sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the shares of Class A common stock underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying shares of Class A common stock. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying shares of Class A common stock for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
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You may only be able to exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis” under certain circumstances, and if you do so, you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
The warrant agreement provides that in the following circumstances holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do for cash and will, instead, be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act: (i) if the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the terms of the warrant agreement; (ii) if we have so elected and the shares of Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act; and (iii) if we have so elected and we call the public warrants for redemption. If you exercise your public warrants on a cashless basis, you would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The “fair market value” as used in the preceding sentence shall mean the volume weighted average price of the shares of Class A common stock for the ten trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent. 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 their permitted transferees may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with the closing of our IPO, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of their shares of Class B common stock after those shares convert to shares of our Class A common stock. In addition, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the resale of such warrants or the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the shares of common stock owned by our initial stockholders or their permitted transferees, our private placement warrants or warrants issued in connection with working capital loans are registered for resale.
We may issue additional shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2021, there are 169,333,333 and 45,000,000 authorized but unissued shares of Class A and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance, which amount takes into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants but not upon conversion of the Class B common stock. Shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. As of December 31, 2021, there are no preferred shares issued and outstanding.
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We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock, and may issue shares of preferred stock, in order to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock to redeem the warrants, or upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation. However, our certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote pursuant to our certificate of incorporation on any initial business combination or any amendments to our certificate of incorporation. The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:
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may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in our IPO, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock; |
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may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock; |
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could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present directors and officers; |
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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; |
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may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or warrants; and |
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may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants have been issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that (a) the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth the IPO prospectus or (ii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants and (b) all other modifications or amendments require the vote or written consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, at least 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
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A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike some blank check companies, if
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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 of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any shares of Class B common stock held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance), or the Newly Issued Price; |
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the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions); and |
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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, the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 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. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, or a New York foreign action, in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions, or a New York enforcement action, and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such New York enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the New York foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
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This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors. Furthermore, stockholders cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and rules and regulations thereunder.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our shares of Class B common stock, which are held by our initial stockholders, are entitled to vote on the election of directors, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Our certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company or our company’s directors, officers or other employees.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (1) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our company, (2) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, employee or agent of our company to our company or our stockholders, or any claim for aiding and abetting any such alleged breach, (3) action asserting a claim against our company or any director, officer or employee of our company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, or (4) action asserting a claim against us or any director, officer or employee of our company governed by the internal affairs doctrine except for, as to each of (1) through (4) above, any claim (a) as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination) or (b) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this paragraph will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or otherwise arising under federal securities laws, for which the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum. Furthermore, stockholders cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and rules and regulations thereunder. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our certificate of incorporation. If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware, a foreign action, in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions, an enforcement action, and (y) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder.
This forum selection clause may discourage claims or limit stockholders’ ability to submit claims in a judicial forum that they find favorable and may result in additional costs for a stockholder seeking to bring a claim. While we believe the risk of a court declining to enforce this forum selection clause is low, if a court were to determine the
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forum selection clause to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs in conjunction with our efforts to resolve the dispute in an alternative jurisdiction, which could have a negative impact on our results of operations and financial condition and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
Risks Related to our Sponsor and Management Team and Their Respective Affiliates
Past performance by our management team, BuildGroup and their respective affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company.
Information regarding performance by our management team, BuildGroup and their respective affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team, BuildGroup and their respective affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, is not a guarantee either (1) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (2) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team or their affiliates or any related investment’s performance as indicative of our future performance of an investment in the company or the returns the company will, or is likely to, generate going forward.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in acquisition targets that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if such business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this report regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors relevant to such acquisition. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Our directors and officers will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our directors and officers are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other responsibilities. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our business combination. Each of our directors and officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he or she may be entitled to substantial compensation and our directors and officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors will also serve as officers and/or board members for other entities. If our directors’ and officers’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
We are dependent upon our directors and officers and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our directors and officers, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
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Our ability to effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of our or a target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination, as we do not expect that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
We may have limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a stockholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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The directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and directors and officers are, or may become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Our sponsor, directors and officers are not prohibited from sponsoring, investing in or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies (including special purpose acquisition companies similar to our company), including in connection with their initial business combinations, prior to us completing our initial business combination. Potential investors should also be aware of certain potential conflicts of interest as further described in “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Conflicts of Interest.”
As described therein, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our directors and officers have now and may have in the future similar legal obligations to other companies that would require them to present business opportunities to those companies. Accordingly, if any of our directors or officers become aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for another entity to whom they owe fiduciary or contractual duties, he or she may need to honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
Our directors, officers, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we currently do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
In particular, affiliates of our sponsor have invested in a diverse set of industries. As a result, there may be substantial overlap between companies that would be a suitable business combination for us and companies that would make an attractive target for such other affiliates.
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, directors or officers which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, directors and officers with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, directors and officers. Certain of our directors and officers also serve as officers and board members for other entities. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, directors and officers are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated. Although we will not be
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specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria and guidelines for a business combination as set forth in “Item 1. Business—Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Even if we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm that an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view, 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.
Zeynep Young, our co-chief executive officer and director, is party to a non-competition agreement that will limit certain companies and businesses that we may target for an initial business combination. This could negatively impact our prospects for an initial business combination.
Zeynep Young, our co-chief executive officer and director, recently also served as the chief executive officer of Calytera until December 2020. Ms. Young is party to a non-competition agreement with Calytera which precludes Ms. Young from, either directly or indirectly, whether on her own behalf, or in the service of or on behalf of others, owning any interest in, participating in the ownership or management of, or being compensated by, any business engaged directly in a material business of Calytera.
For our business combination, we intend to focus on industries that complement Ms. Young’s background and experience. As a result of Ms. Young’s non-competition agreement, certain companies and businesses that we may target for an initial business combination will be limited. If a court were to conclude that a violation of the non-competition agreement had occurred, it could enjoin Ms. Young from participating in our company, or enjoin us from engaging in aspects of the business which compete with Calytera, as applicable. The court could also impose monetary damages against Ms. Young or us. This could materially harm our business and the trading prices of our securities. Even if ultimately resolved in our favor, any litigation associated with the non-competition could be time consuming, costly and distract management’s focus from locating suitable acquisition candidates and operating our business.
Since our initial stockholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
In January 2021, our sponsor subscribed for an aggregate of 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. 750,000 founder shares forfeited by our sponsor when the underwriters’ over-allotment option lapsed unexercised. Our initial stockholders collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock as of the date of this report. The shares of Class B common stock will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination.
In addition, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable for one share of our Class A common stock, for a purchase price of $6,000,000 in the aggregate, or $1.50 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete a business combination. Each private placement warrant may be exercised for one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein.
The shares of Class B common stock are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units sold in our IPO except that: (1) prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B common stock have the right to vote on the election of directors and holders of a majority of our outstanding shares of Class B common stock may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason; (2) the shares of Class B common stock are subject to certain transfer restrictions contained in a letter agreement that our initial stockholders, directors and officers have entered into with us; (3) pursuant to such letter agreement, our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed to waive: (i) their redemption rights with respect to any shares of Class B common stock and public shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) their redemption rights with respect to any shares of Class B common stock and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our
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public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any shares of Class B common stock they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame); (4) the shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described in more detail below; and (5) the shares of Class B common stock are entitled to registration rights. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote any shares of Class B common stock and public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to or waiver of the letter agreement, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to or waivers of the letter agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any amendment or waiver entered into in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to such initial business combination, and any other material amendment to or waiver of any of our material agreements will be disclosed in a filing with the SEC. Any such amendments or waivers would not require approval from our stockholders, may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
The personal and financial interests of our sponsor, directors and officers may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the deadline for completing our initial business combination nears.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers.
We have entered into agreements with our directors and officers to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our certificate of incorporation. 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.
General Risks
We are a newly incorporated company with no operating history with no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a newly incorporated company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until and we will not commence operations until completing a business combination. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
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We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following our IPO, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
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default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
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acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
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our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
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our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
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our inability to pay dividends on our common stock; |
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using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
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limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
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increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
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limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We may be able to complete only one business combination with the proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants provided us with $200,800,000 that we may use to complete our initial business combination, which includes $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account, and excludes estimated offering expenses of $1,200,000.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. Further, we would not be able to diversify
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our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
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solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
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dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will complete such business combination only if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company
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owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of common stock in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.
Our certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all public shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our certificate of incorporation or governing instruments, including our warrant agreement, in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that some of our stockholders or warrant holders may not support.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination. To the extent any such amendment would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through the IPO prospectus, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.
Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our 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 certificate of incorporation provides that any of its provisions (other than amendments relating to the election or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, which require the approval by holders of a majority of
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at least 90% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting) related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our issued and outstanding common stock, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our issued and outstanding common stock. Unless specified in our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders, and, prior to our initial business combination, the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class B common stock is required to approve the election or removal of directors. We may not issue additional securities that can vote pursuant to our certificate of incorporation on any initial business combination or any amendments to our certificate of incorporation. Our initial stockholders, who beneficially own 20% of our common stock as of the date of this report, may participate in any vote to amend our 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 certificate of incorporation which will govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete our initial business combination with which you do not agree.
Our initial stockholders have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement, that they will not propose any amendment to our certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our sponsor, directors and officers. Our public stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, this agreement and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, directors or officers for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our public stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
Certain agreements related to our IPO may be amended or waived without stockholder approval.
Each of the agreements related to our IPO to which we are a party, other than the warrant agreement and the investment management trust agreement, may be amended or waived without stockholder approval. Such agreements are: the underwriting agreement; the letter agreement among us and our initial stockholders, officers and directors; the registration rights agreement among us and our initial stockholders; the private placement warrants purchase agreement between us and our sponsor; and the administrative services agreement among us, our sponsor and an affiliate of our sponsor. These agreements contain various provisions that our public stockholders might deem to be material. For example, our letter agreement and the underwriting agreement contain certain lock-up provisions with respect to the shares of Class B common stock, private placement warrants and other securities held by our initial stockholders, officers and directors. Amendments to or waivers of such agreements would require the consent of the applicable parties thereto and would need to be approved by our board of directors, which may do so for a variety of reasons, including to facilitate our initial business combination. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to or waiver of any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to or waivers of any such agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any amendment or waiver entered into in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to such initial business combination, and any other material amendment to or waiver of any of our material agreements will be disclosed in a filing with the SEC. Any such amendments or waivers would not require approval from our stockholders, may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities. For example, amendments to or waivers of the lock-up provision discussed above may
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result in our initial stockholders selling their securities earlier than they would otherwise be permitted, which may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds from our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate.
In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our directors, officers or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our initial stockholders will control the election of our board of directors until consummation of our initial business combination and will hold a substantial interest in us. As a result, they will elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination and may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
As of the date of this report, our initial stockholders own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of the shares of Class B common stock will have the right to elect all of our directors and may remove members of the board of directors for any reason. Holders of our public shares will have no right to vote on the election of directors during such time. These provisions of our certificate of incorporation may only be amended by holders of a majority of at least 90% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting. As a result, you will not have any influence over the election of directors prior to our initial business combination.
In addition, as a result of their substantial ownership in our company, our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on other actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of Class A 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 at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
Our initial stockholders will receive additional shares of Class A common stock if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of 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.
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In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities (as described herein), are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in our IPO and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which the shares of our Class B common stock will convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class B common stock agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of all shares of our common stock issued and outstanding upon the completion of our IPO, plus all shares of our 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.
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
On April 12, 2021, the staff of the SEC (the “SEC Staff”) issued the SEC Statement, wherein the SEC Staff expressed its view that certain terms and conditions common to SPAC warrants may require the warrants to be classified as liabilities on the SPAC’s balance sheet as opposed to being treated as equity. Specifically, the SEC Statement focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination, which terms are similar to those contained in the warrant agreement governing our warrants. As a result of the SEC Statement, we reevaluated the accounting treatment of our warrants, and pursuant to the guidance in ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”), determined the warrants should be classified as derivative liabilities measured at fair value on our balance sheet, with any changes in fair value to be reported each period in earnings on our statements of operations.
As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements may fluctuate quarterly, based on factors which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses on our warrants each reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2021. If we are unable to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Following this issuance of the SEC Statement, our management and our audit committee concluded that, in light of the SEC Statement, we identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. We continue to evaluate steps to remediate the material weakness. These remediation measures may be time consuming and costly and there is no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
We, and following our initial business combination, the post-business combination company, may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting.
As a result of the material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting described above, the change in accounting for the warrants, and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we face
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potential for litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this report, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete a business combination.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant). If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants as described above could force you to: (1) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so; (2) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants; or (3) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant). In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of shares of Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A common stock. Any such redemption may have similar consequences to a cash redemption described above. In addition, such redemption may occur at a time when the warrants are ”out-of-the-money,” in which case you would lose any potential embedded value from a subsequent increase in the value of the Class A common stock had your warrants remained outstanding. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of shares of Class A common stock received is capped at 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
Our warrants and Class B common stock may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 6,666,667 shares of Class A common stock, at a price of $11.50 per whole share (subject to adjustment as provided herein), as part of the units offered by our IPO and, simultaneously with the closing of our IPO, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Our initial stockholders currently hold 5,000,000 shares of Class B common stock. The shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our directors and officers make any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants or conversion rights could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock and reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete the business combination. Therefore, our warrants and Class B common stock may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
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The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in our IPO except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees: (1) they will not be redeemable by us (except, in certain circumstances, when the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share); (2) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (4) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights.
A market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
The price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), 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 financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of any second quarter of a fiscal year, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the end of such fiscal year. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the
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Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company as long as (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250 million as of the end of a year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues are less than $100 million during a completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
If our management team pursues a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
While we intend to focus our search for a target business operating in the United States, if our management team pursues a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign market, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
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costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets; |
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rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
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complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
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laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
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tariffs and trade barriers; |
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regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
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longer payment cycles; |
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changes in local regulations as part of a response to the COVID-19 outbreak; |
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tax consequences, such as tax law changes, including termination or reduction of tax and other incentives that the applicable government provides to domestic companies, and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
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currency fluctuations and exchange controls, including devaluations and other exchange rate movements; |
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rates of inflation, price instability and interest rate fluctuations; |
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challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
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cultural and language differences; |
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employment regulations; |
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crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; |
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deterioration of political relations with the United States; |
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obligatory military service by personnel; and |
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government appropriation of assets. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such combination or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, any or all of our management could resign from their positions as officers of the company, and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination could remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with U.S. securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
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Our officers, directors and sponsor are from time to time involved in other business ventures unrelated to our business but which may generate business or legal disputes with investors and others unrelated to our company, and these disputes may distract our management from operating our company and/or result in adverse publicity that could be harmful.
Our officers, directors and sponsor are involved in a number of other businesses that are unrelated to our company. The operation of these other businesses from time to time may generate business or legal disputes involving investors or other parties. These disputes could involve allegations of mismanagement or fraud that could become public and result in adverse publicity for the parties involved. Any such disputes also could distract the member of our management involved in the dispute from time that might otherwise be spent in the operation of our company. Any adverse publicity generated as a result of such a dispute, although unrelated to our business, could nevertheless be detrimental to our management team’s reputation and negatively affect our ability to identify and complete an initial business combination. This could, in turn, have a material and adverse effect on the price of our securities.
After our initial business combination, our results of operations and prospects could be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political, social and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on stockholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located, or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a stockholder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the stockholder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to stockholders to pay such taxes. Stockholders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
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Item 2. Properties.
We currently maintain our executive offices at 3500 Jefferson, Suite 303, Austin, Texas 78731. The cost for this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee that we will pay an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
We are not currently subject to any material legal proceedings, nor, to our knowledge, is any material legal proceeding threatened against us or any of our officers or directors in their corporate capacity.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
None.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Our units, Class A common stock and warrants are traded on the NYSE under the symbols “BGSX.U”, “BGSX” and “BGSX WS”, respectively.
Holders
Although there are a larger number of beneficial owners, at March 30, 2022, there was 1 holder of record of our units, 1 holder of record of our separately traded Class A common stock and 1 holder of record of our separately traded warrants.
Dividend Policy
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
On March 19, 2021, we consummated our IPO of 20,000,000 units. The units were sold at $10.00 per unit, generating total gross proceeds of $200,000,000. Cowen and Company, LLC and Allen & Company LLC acted as book-running co-managers of our IPO. The securities in the offering were registered under the Securities Act on registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-253664). The SEC declared the registration statement effective on March 16, 2021.
Simultaneously with the closing of our IPO, the Company completed the sale of 4,000,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per private placement warrant to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $6,000,000. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. The issuance was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants underlying the units sold in our IPO, except that the private placement warrants are not transferable, assignable or salable until after the completion of a business combination, subject to certain limited exceptions.
Of the gross proceeds received from our IPO, an aggregate of $200,000,000 was placed in the Trust Account.
In connection with our IPO, we incurred $4,000,000 of underwriting fees, $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting fees and $461,429 of other costs. There has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds from our IPO as described in our final prospectus dated March 16, 2021, which was filed with the SEC.
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Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliates
None.
Item 6. [RESERVED]
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, shares and debt.
The issuance of additional shares of our common stock or preferred stock in a business combination:
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may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in our IPO, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock; |
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may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock; |
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could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is issued, which could result in the resignation or removal of our present directors and officers; |
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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; |
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may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or warrants; and |
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may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
Similarly, if we issue debt or otherwise incur significant indebtedness, it could result in:
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default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
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acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
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our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
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our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
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our inability to pay dividends on our common stock; |
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using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
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limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
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increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
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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. |
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 our IPO. Following our IPO, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after our IPO. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After our IPO, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of our IPO.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net loss of $854,585, which consists of operating and formation costs of $1,212,723 and transaction costs associated with warrant liabilities of $292,920, offset by interest earned on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $15,241 and change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $635,817.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of our IPO through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares to our sponsor and up to $300,000 in loans from our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. We estimate that the net proceeds from (1) the sale of the units in our IPO, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $1,200,000 and underwriting commissions of $4,000,000 (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $7,000,000), and (2) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $6,000,000 were $200,800,000. Of this amount, $200,000,000, including $7,000,000 in deferred underwriting commissions was deposited into the trust account. We incurred $4,461,429 in Initial Public Offering related costs, including $4,000,000 of underwriting fees, net of reimbursements, and $461,429 of other costs.
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 investing solely in U.S. Treasuries. The remaining $800,000 will not be held in the trust account.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, cash used in operating activities was $993,238. Net loss of $854,585 was affected by noncash income related to a change in fair value of the warrant liabilities of $635,817, interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $15,241 and transaction costs allocable to warrant liabilities of $292,920. Changes in operating assets and liabilities provided approximately $219,485 of cash for operating activities.
As of December 31, 2021, we had marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $200,015,241 (including approximately $15,241 of interest income) consisting of U.S. Treasury Bills with a maturity of 185 days or less. Interest income on the balance in the Trust Account may be used by us to pay taxes. As of December 31, 2021, total
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franchise taxes of $200,000 were included in accrued expenses on the balance sheet. Through December 31, 2021, we have not withdrawn any interest earned from the Trust Account.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and excluding deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay taxes, if any. Delaware franchise tax is based on our authorized shares or on our assumed par and non-par capital, whichever yields a lower result. Under the authorized shares method, each share is taxed at a graduated rate based on the number of authorized shares with a maximum aggregate tax of $200,000 per year. Under the assumed par value capital method, Delaware taxes each $1,000,000 of assumed par value capital at the rate of $350; where assumed par value would be (1) our total gross assets following our IPO, divided by (2) our total issued shares of common stock following our IPO, multiplied by (3) the number of our authorized shares following our IPO. Based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding and our estimated total gross proceeds after the completion of our IPO, our annual franchise tax obligation is expected to be capped at the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation of $200,000. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our taxes. We expect the only taxes payable by us out of the funds in the trust account will be income and franchise taxes, if any. To the extent that shares of our common stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us $800,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. As of December 31, 2021, we had cash of $570,333. 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, structure, negotiate and complete a business combination, and to pay taxes to the extent the interest earned on the trust account is not sufficient to pay our taxes.
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 directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. As of December 31, 2021, there were no amounts drawn. On February 22, 2022, the Sponsor committed to provide the Company with a total of up to $1,500,000 for working capital purposes. These loans will be non-interest bearing and may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. 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 that period to include approximately $350,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with any business combinations; approximately $100,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; approximately $240,000 for office space, administrative and support services; approximately $85,000 for the NYSE continued listing fees; and approximately $25,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves net of estimated interest income.
These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a ”no-shop” provision (a provision designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not
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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.
If our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination and may need to raise additional funds. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination.
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following critical accounting policies:
Warrant Liabilities
We account for the warrants in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40-15-7D and 7F under which the Warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, we classify the warrants as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the Warrants to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statement of operations. The Private Placement Warrants and the public warrants for periods where no observable traded price was available were valued using a lattice model, specifically a binomial lattice model incorporating the Cox-Ross-Rubenstein methodology. For periods subsequent to the detachment of the public warrants from the Units, the public warrant quoted market price was used as the fair value as of each relevant date.
Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. Our common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, the Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ deficit section of our balance sheet.
Net Income (Loss) per Common Stock
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share”. The Company has two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class A common stock and class B common stock. Income and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Net income (loss) per share of common stock is calculated by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the respective period. Accretion associated with the redeemable shares of Class A common stock is excluded from income (loss) per common stock as the redemption value approximates fair value.
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Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06- Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (“ASU 2020-06”) to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-converted method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2022 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. We are currently assessing the impact, if any, that ASU 2020-06 would have on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.
Controls and Procedures
We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control reporting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
Prior to the closing of our IPO, we have not completed an assessment, nor has our independent registered public accounting firm tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:
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staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties; |
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reconciliation of accounts; |
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proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate; |
|
• |
evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions; |
|
• |
documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and |
|
• |
documentation of accounting policies and procedures. |
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so
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effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money 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 January 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash used to purchase such shares by the number of founder shares issued. Our initial stockholders will collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock after our IPO (assuming they do not purchase any units in our IPO). 750,000 founder shares forfeited by our sponsor when the underwriters’ over-allotment option lapsed unexercised.
We have entered into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will also pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, the Administrative Services Agreement will terminate and we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Our audit committee will review and approve all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, directors, officers or our or any of their respective affiliates, which may include reimbursement of 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. 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 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of our IPO. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of September 30, 2021 and the closing of our IPO. These loans will be repaid upon completion of our IPO out of the $1,200,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) 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 directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. As of December 31, 2021, there were no amounts drawn. On February 22, 2022, the Sponsor committed to provide the Company with a total of up to $1,500,000 for working capital purposes. These loans will be non-interest bearing and may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. 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 purchased an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($6,000,000 in the aggregate) in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our IPO. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in our IPO except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees: (1) they will not be redeemable by us (except under certain circumstances when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00); (2) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (4) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights.
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement that we entered into with our initial stockholders prior to the closing of our IPO, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until the securities covered thereby are released from their lock-up restrictions, as described herein. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. See “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters—Registration Rights.”
Going Concern
We have until March 19, 2023 to consummate a Business Combination. It is uncertain that we will have sufficient liquidity or be able to consummate a Business Combination by this time. If a Business Combination is not consummated by this date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution. Management has determined that the mandatory liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should we be required to liquidate after March 19, 2023.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this report as we have conducted no operations to date.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than an agreement to pay an affiliate of one of our executive officers a monthly fee of $10,000 for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. We began incurring these fees on March 16, 2021 and will continue to incur these fees monthly until the earlier of the completion of the Business Combination and our liquidation.
The underwriters are entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $7,000,000 in the aggregate. 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.
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JOBS Act
On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things: (1) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; (2) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; (3) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis); and (4) disclose certain executive compensation-related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our IPO or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Not required for smaller reporting companies.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
This information appears following Item 15 of this report and is included herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this report, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer (our “Certifying Officers”) evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2021, pursuant to Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our Certifying Officers concluded that, as of December 31, 2021, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective, due solely to the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s accounting for complex financial instruments. As a result, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this annual report on Form 10-K present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.
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Management intends to implement remediation steps to improve our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we intend to expand and improve our review process for complex securities and related accounting standards. We have improved this process by enhancing access to accounting literature, identification of third-party professionals with whom to consult regarding complex accounting applications and consideration of additional staff with the requisite experience and training to supplement existing accounting professionals.
We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
This annual report on Form 10-K does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information.
None
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.
None
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PART III
|
Item 10. |
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance. |
Our current directors and executive officers are as follows:
Name |
|
|
Age(1) |
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|
Position |
|
A. Lanham Napier |
|
|
51 |
|
|
Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer |
|
Zeynep Young |
|
|
51 |
|
|
Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director |
|
Christina Fok |
|
|
43 |
|
|
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer |
|
Noam Ohana |
|
|
43 |
|
|
Director |
|
Owen Van Natta |
|
|
52 |
|
|
Director |
|
James C. Weaver |
|
|
46 |
|
|
Director |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1) As of December 31, 2021
A. Lanham Napier, Chairman of the Board and Co-Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Napier has extensive experience across the technology ecosystem. Mr. Napier is the Chief Executive Officer of BuildGroup, which he co-founded in 2015, and BuildGroup LLC, which he co-founded in 2017, to invest in and grow leading SaaS and technology companies by partnering with marketplace leaders. Currently, Mr. Napier sits on the Board of Directors for Anaconda, Inc., BenefitFocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT), DigniFi and Teal Systems, among others. Prior to BuildGroup and BuildGroup LLC, Mr. Napier worked at Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (“Rackspace”) (NYSE: RAX) where from April 2000 through February 2014, he led Rackspace from $1.7 million to $1.5 billion in revenue and served as Chief Executive Officer beginning in 2006. Through his leadership at Rackspace, it was named on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.” Mr. Napier also served as a Director at Silver Ventures from 1997 through 2000 and began his career as an analyst at Merrill Lynch in 1993. Mr. Napier received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from Rice University. We believe Mr. Napier’s extensive management and investment experience and his understanding of our strategy qualify him to serve as our Chairman of our board of directors and as our Co-Chief Executive Officer.
Zeynep Young, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director
Ms. Young has extensive experience as a business executive and entrepreneur, having founded and scaled multiple technology and data companies. Since January 2021, she has served on the Board of Directors for BenefitFocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT) and DigniFi. From March 2020 through November 2020, Ms. Young was Chief Executive Officer of Calytera, an Austin, Texas-based government technology company which was acquired in November 2020 by Granicus, Inc. Prior to this, Ms. Young was a Venture Partner at Next Coast Ventures LLC (“NCV”), which she joined in March of 2017. During her tenure at NCV, she also consulted with technology and social enterprise clients on growth strategies and profit improvement initiatives. Ms. Young was also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Double Line, Inc., a leading data management and services company focused on the K-12 education and government verticals, which she founded in 2009. She led the company to a successful exit in 2016. Prior to this, she was Portfolio Director, Texas for The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation from October 2005 through February 2009 where she oversaw a portfolio of investments in market-leading technologies in education and healthcare. Ms. Young began her career at McKinsey & Company in 1997, where she advanced to Associate Principal. At McKinsey & Company, Ms. Young was one of the leaders in the global technology practice, with focus on revenue growth strategies. Ms. Young received her MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and her BA from Rice University. We believe that Ms. Young is qualified to serve on our Board due to her extensive experience in sourcing and investing in leading technology companies.
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Christina Fok, Chief Financial Officer and Compliance Officer
Ms. Fok possesses over 20 years of finance and accounting experience in the financial industry. Prior to serving as Chief Financial Officer and Compliance Officer, Ms. Fok served as the Executive Director of Finance at Peak Rock Capital from 2016 to 2021. Prior to Peak Rock Capital, Ms. Fok worked as a manager in the General Partner Accounting group at TPG Capital from 2016 to 2016. Prior to TPG Capital, Ms. Fok served as the manager of the Private Investments team at Hartz Capital, Inc from 2006 to 2015. Prior to Hartz Capital, Inc., she served as both an Associate and Business Analyst at Goldman Sachs from 2003 to 2006. Ms. Fok began her career in public accounting at Deloitte. Ms. Fok received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also a CPA in the state of New York.
Noam Ohana, Director
Mr. Ohana, a director, is the Managing Director of Exor N.V. (OTCMKTS: EXXRF), an investment holding company. Mr. Ohana is also the Managing Partner of Conegliano Ventures LLC, a venture capital fund. Currently, Mr. Ohana sits on the Board of Directors for Via Transportation Inc. (since May 2020), Cowboy SA (since July 2020), DigniFi (since November 2019), Fiit Limited (since March 2019) and Finhabits Inc. (since January 2016). Prior to Exor N.V. and Conegliano Ventures LLC, from 2010 through 2014, Mr. Ohana was a Partner of BeaconLight Capital, a global equity long-short fund, which he co-founded in 2010. Mr. Ohana started his investment career in 2007 at Atticus Capital, where he managed a fund-of-funds. Mr. Ohana received his bachelor’s degree in Public Affairs from Sciences Po in 1999 and his MA from Stanford University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar, in 2001. We believe that Mr. Ohana is qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive experience in sourcing and investing in leading technology companies across sectors and stages.
Owen Van Natta, Director
Mr. Van Natta, a director, is the Founder and Managing Partner of Prefix Capital LLC, an early stage investment fund founded in 2019. Mr. Van Natta has also served as a Founder and Managing Partner at 415 Investments LLC since 2013. Previously, Mr. Van Natta was the Executive Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of Business at Zynga Inc. (“Zynga”) (NASDAQ: ZNGA) from 2010 to 2011, where he was responsible for the company’s revenue strategy, corporate development, international expansion, and brand. Prior to Zynga, Mr. Van Natta served as Chief Executive Officer of MySpace from 2009 to 2010, where he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s strategic vision and the execution of its global business initiatives. Prior to joining MySpace, Mr. Van Natta served as the Chief Executive Officer of Project Playlist, a music sharing website allowing users to search for music, create custom play lists, and share the content with friends from 2008 to 2009. Prior to Project Playlist, Mr. Van Natta was the Chief Operating Officer at Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) where he focused on revenue operations, business development, and strategic partnerships from 2005 to 2008. Earlier in his career, Owen was Vice President of Worldwide Business and Corporate Development at Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), where he managed global marketing programs and strategic partnerships. He was part of the founding team of A9.com, an Amazon.com company, and was responsible for site operations and sponsored-link advertising on amazon.com. Mr. Van Natta also served as a Director at Sidestep, Boku, Inc. (LON: BOKU), Zynga and Gridspace. Mr. Van Natta received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz. We believe that Mr. Van Natta is qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive experience and leadership in the technology industry.
James C. Weaver, Director
Mr. Weaver, a director, is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of CW Interests, L.L.C. (“CW Interests”), an investment management firm, where he oversees the implementation of the company’s investment strategies, including management of direct investments in private operating businesses. Currently, Mr. Weaver sits on the Board of Directors for Cox Enterprises (since 2015), KB Home (NYSE: KBH) (since 2017), Milestone Brands LLC (since 2015), Jonah Energy LLC (since 2020) and UTIMCO (since 2018). Mr. Weaver was appointed to a six-year term on The University of Texas System Board of Regents in 2017 and was elected as Vice Chairman of the Board in 2019. In addition to his directorships, Mr. Weaver serves on the Audit Committee for Cox Enterprises, KB Home, and The University of Texas Board of Regents. Prior to CW Interests, Mr. Weaver served as the Chief Executive Officer of McCombs Partners from 2006 to 2020. Mr. Weaver also served as a director of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce (from 2018 through 2019), the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (San Antonio branch) (from 2013
71
through 2019), Bypass Mobile (from 2014 through 2020), Southern Towing (from 2012 through 2019), Haymon Entertainment (from 2015 through 2018), General LED (from 2014 through 2020) and Mediterranean Resources (from 2013 through 2020). Mr. Weaver has spent over 20 years as an investment professional and has led the investment strategy and successful exits for several privately owned SaaS companies. Mr. Weaver received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. We believe that Mr. Weaver is qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive experience in investing in leading technology companies across sectors.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors consists of five members.
Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our Class B common stock have the right to elect all of our directors and remove members of the board of directors for any reason, and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the election of directors during such time. These provisions of our certificate of incorporation may only be amended if approved by holders of a majority of at least 90% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting. Approval of our initial business combination will require the affirmative vote of a majority of our board directors, which must include a majority of our independent directors. Subject to any other special rights applicable to the stockholders, prior to our initial business combination, any vacancies on our board of directors may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at the meeting of our board of directors, or by holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class B common stock.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman of the Board, a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Chief Financial Officer, Vice Presidents, a Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, a Treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
NYSE listing rules require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our IPO. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person that, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). We have three “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE rules and applicable SEC rules. Our board has determined that each of Noam Ohana, Owen Van Natta and James C. Weaver is an independent director under applicable SEC and the NYSE rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee; a compensation committee; and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Subject to phase-in rules, the NYSE listing rules and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and the NYSE listing rules require that the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Each committee operates under a charter approved by our board of directors and has the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee is available on our website.
Audit Committee
The members of our audit committee are James C. Weaver, Noam Ohana and Owen Van Natta. Mr. Weaver serves as chair of the audit committee.
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Each member of the audit committee is financially literate, and our board of directors has determined that each such member qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise. We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the purpose and principal functions of the audit committee, including:
|
• |
assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent registered public accounting firm; |
|
• |
the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
|
• |
pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
|
• |
reviewing and discussing with the independent registered public accounting firm all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
|
• |
setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
|
• |
setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
|
• |
obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; |
|
• |
meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; |
|
• |
reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
|
• |
reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter, is 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 is required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee constitutes a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee is required to approve a related party transaction. Our audit committee will review and approve all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, directors, officers or our or any of their respective affiliates, which may include reimbursement of any out-of-pocket
73
expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations.
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.
Compensation Committee
The members of our compensation committee are Owen Van Natta, Noam Ohana and James C. Weaver. Mr. Van Natta serves as chair of the compensation committee. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibility of the compensation committee, including:
|
• |
reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to each of our Co-Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating each of our Co-Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Co-Chief Executive Officers based on such evaluation; |
|
• |
reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive-compensation and equity-based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
|
• |
reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
|
• |
implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
|
• |
assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
|
• |
approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
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• |
producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
|
• |
reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Noam Ohana, Owen Van Natta and James C. Weaver. Mr. Ohana serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
|
• |
identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board of directors, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual stockholder meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
|
• |
developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
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|
• |
coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
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• |
reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Code of Conduct and Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Conduct and Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. A copy of our Code of Conduct and Ethics is posted on our website at https://www.buildspac.com/. In addition, a copy of the Code of Conduct and Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Conduct and Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Conflicts of Interest
Substantially all of our sponsor is owned by BuildGroup LLC. BuildGroup manages several investment vehicles, and an acquisition opportunity that may be suitable for us may also fit the investment objectives of a different BuildGroup fund. BuildGroup has advised us that it expects that an opportunity presented to BuildGroup to acquire a target that has greater than $50 million in annual revenue, or an enterprise value of at least $400 million, will be allocated to us; however, the managers of BuildGroup may determine to allocate such an opportunity to a different BuildGroup fund.
Further, our officers and directors may owe competing duties to other enterprises, and opportunities presented to them may not be presented to us as a result of such conflicts. Also, each of 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, directors and officers are not prohibited from sponsoring, investing in or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies (including special purpose acquisition companies similar to our company), including in connection with their initial business combinations, prior to us completing our initial business combination. Potential investors should also be aware of the following potential conflicts of interest.
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• |
Our directors and officers are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other responsibilities. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to our Sponsor and Management Team and Their Respective Affiliates—Our directors and officers will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.” |
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• |
Our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any Class B common stock and public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption |
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rights with respect to their Class B common stock if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our IPO. However, if our initial stockholders, or any of our directors, officers or affiliates acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Pursuant to a letter agreement that our initial stockholders, directors and officers have entered into with us, with certain limited exceptions, the Class B common stock will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial stockholders until the earlier of: (1) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (2) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) for any 20-trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our initial stockholders, directors and officers may directly or indirectly own our securities following our IPO, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. |
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• |
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote any shares of Class B common stock and public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. |
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• |
Our directors and officers may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether to proceed with a particular business combination. |
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• |
Zeynep Young, our co-chief executive officer and director, recently also served as the chief executive officer of Calytera until December 2020. Ms. Young is party to a non-competition agreement with Calytera. For our business combination, we intend to focus on industries that complement Ms. Young’s background and experience. As a result of Ms. Young’s non-competition agreement, certain companies and businesses that we may target for an initial business combination will be limited. |
The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.
In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:
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• |
the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity; |
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• |
the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and |
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• |
it would not be fair to the corporation and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation. |
If any of our directors or officers become aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for another entity to whom they owe fiduciary or contractual duties, he or she may need to honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. Our certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any
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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 it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to our Sponsor and Management Team and Their Respective Affiliates—Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.” We do not believe, however, that any of the foregoing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our initial stockholders, directors or officers. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our initial stockholders, directors or officers, we would rely on a committee of independent and disinterested directors to evaluate and negotiate the transaction terms and to recommend to our board of directors whether to proceed with the transaction. Such committee may also engage outside independent advisors to assist it with its evaluation and will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view in connection with making any recommendation to proceed with the transaction.
In addition, our sponsor or any of its affiliates may make additional investments in the company in connection with the initial business combination, although our sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or current intention to do so. If our sponsor or any of its affiliates elects to make additional investments, such proposed investments could influence our sponsor’s motivation to complete an initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Our certificate of incorporation provides that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our certificate of incorporation provides that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us or our stockholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted by the DGCL.
We have entered into agreements with our directors and officers to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our certificate of incorporation.
Our bylaws also permit us to maintain insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We have obtained 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 directors and officers.
A stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers 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 directors and officers.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
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Item 11. |
Executive Compensation. |
None of our directors or officers have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on the NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office
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space, administrative and support services. Our sponsor, directors and officers, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review and approve all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, directors, officers or our or any of their respective affiliates, which may include reimbursement of 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.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other compensation from the combined company. All compensation will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers after the completion of our initial business combination will be determined by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors.
We are not party to any agreements with our directors and officers that provide for benefits upon termination of employment. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business, and we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination should be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination.
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Item 12. |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters. |
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March 30, 2022:
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• |
each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock; |
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• |
each of our directors and officers; and |
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• |
all our directors and officers as a group. |
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Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of March 30, 2022.
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Class A Common Stock |
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Class B Common Stock |
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||||||||||
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) |
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Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(2) |
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Approximate Percentage of Class A |
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Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(2) |
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Approximate Percentage of Class B |
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Approximate Percentage of Common Stock |
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Build Acquisition Sponsor LLC (our sponsor)(3) |
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5,000,000 |
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20 |
% |
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5,000,000 |
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100 |
% |
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20 |
% |
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A. Lanham Napier(3) |
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5,000,000 |
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20 |
% |
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5,000,000 |
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100 |
% |
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20 |
% |
Sculptor Capital LP(4) |
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1,493,400 |
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7.47 |
% |
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* |
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* |
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7.47 |
% |
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D. E. Shaw Valence Portfolios, L.L.C.(5) |
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1,079,008 |
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5.4 |
% |
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* |
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* |
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5.4 |
% |
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Magnetar Financial(6) |
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1,601,370 |
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8.01 |
% |
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* |
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* |
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8.01 |
% |
||
Zeynep Young |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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Christina Fok |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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Noam Ohana |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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Owen Van Natta |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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James C. Weaver |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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* |
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All directors and officers as a group (6 Individuals) |
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5,000,000 |
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20% |
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5,000,000 |
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100% |
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20 |
% |
* Less than one percent.
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(1) |
Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Build Acquisition Corp., 3500 Jefferson, Suite 303, Austin, Texas 78731. |
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(2) |
Interests shown consist solely of shares of Class B common stock. Such Class B common stock will convert into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. |
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(3) |
Build Acquisition Sponsor LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of the shares of Class B common stock reported herein. As Chief Executive Officer and Director of BuildGroup LLC and Chief Executive Officer and Manager of BuildGroup, its investment manager, Mr. Napier may have voting and investment discretion with respect to the shares of Class B common stock held of record by our sponsor. Accordingly, each of BuildGroup LLC and Mr. Napier may be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of the Class B common stock held directly by our sponsor. Each such person and entity disclaims any such beneficial ownership. |
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(4) |
Based solely upon the Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on March 23, 2021 by Sculptor Capital Holding Corporation. The business address of Sculptor Capital Holding Corporation is 9 West 57 Street, 39 Floor, New York, NY 10019. Sculptor Capital LP (“Sculptor”) is the principal investment manager to a number of private funds and discretionary accounts (collectively, the “Accounts”). Sculptor Capital II LP (“Sculptor-II”), wholly owned by Sculptor, also serves as the investment manager to certain of the Accounts. The Common Stock reported are held in the Accounts managed by Sculptor and Sculptor-II. Sculptor Capital Holding Corporation (“SCHC”) serves as the general partner of Sculptor. Sculptor Capital Holding II LLC (“SCHC-II”), wholly owned by Sculptor, serves as the general partner of Sculptor-II. Sculptor Capital Management, Inc. (“SCU”) is a holding company that is the sole shareholder of SCHC and the ultimate parent company of Sculptor and Sculptor-II. Sculptor is the investment adviser to Sculptor Master Fund, Ltd. (“SCMF”). Sculptor Special Funding, LP (“NRMD”) is wholly owned by SCMF. Sculptor is the investment adviser to Sculptor Credit Opportunities Master Fund, Ltd. (“SCCO”). Sculptor-II is the investment adviser to Sculptor SC II LP (“NJGC”). Sculptor is the investment adviser to Sculptor Enhanced Master Fund, Ltd. (“SCEN”). Sculptor and Sculptor-II serve as the principal investment managers to the Accounts and thus may be deemed to be the beneficial owners of the common stock of the Company held in the Accounts managed by Sculptor and Sculptor-II. SCHC-II serves as the sole general partner of Sculptor-II and is wholly owned by Sculptor. SCHC serves as the sole general partner of Sculptor. As such, SCHC may be deemed to control Sculptor and, therefore, may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the common stock reported. SCU is the sole shareholder of SCHC, and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the common stock. |
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(5) |
Based solely upon the Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 14, 2022 by each of D. E. Shaw Valence Portfolios, L.L.C., D. E. Shaw & Co., L.L.C., D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P., and David E. Shaw. The business address of each is 1166 Avenue of the Americas, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10036. David E. Shaw does not own any shares directly. By virtue of David E. Shaw’s position as President and sole shareholder of D. E. Shaw & Co., Inc., which is the general partner of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P., which in turn is the investment adviser of D. E. Shaw Valence Portfolios, L.L.C. and D. E. Shaw Oculus Portfolios, L.L.C., and by virtue of David E. Shaw’s position as President and sole shareholder of D. E. Shaw & Co. II, Inc., which is the managing member of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.L.C., which in turn is the manager of D. E. Shaw Valence Portfolios, L.L.C. and D. E. Shaw Oculus Portfolios, L.L.C., David E. Shaw may be deemed to have the shared power to vote or direct the vote of, and the shared power to dispose or direct the disposition of, the 1,079,008 shares as described above constituting 5.4% of the outstanding shares and, therefore, David E. Shaw may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of such shares. David E. Shaw disclaims beneficial ownership of such 1,079,008 shares.
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(6) |
Based solely upon the Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on January 14, 2022 by each of Magnetar Financial, Magnetar Capital Partners, Supernova Management, and Mr. Litowitz. The business address of each is 1603 Orrington Avenue, 13th Floor, Evanston, Illinois 60201. The common stock held for Magnetar Constellation Fund II, Ltd (“Constellation Fund II”), Magnetar Constellation Master Fund, Ltd (“Constellation Master Fund”), Magnetar Systematic Multi-Strategy Master Fund Ltd (“Systematic Master Fund”), Magnetar Capital Master Fund Ltd (“Master Fund”), Magnetar Discovery Master Fund Ltd (“Discovery Fund”), Magnetar Xing He Master Fund Ltd (“Xing He Master Fund”), Purpose Alternative Credit Fund Ltd (“Purpose Fund”), Magnetar SC Fund Ltd (“SC Fund”); Magnetar Structured Credit Fund, LP (“Structured Credit Fund”); Magnetar Lake Credit Fund LLC (“Lake Credit Fund”), Purpose Alternative Credit Fund - T LLC (“Purpose Fund - T”); collectively (the “Magnetar Funds”). Magnetar Financial serves as the investment adviser to the Magnetar Funds, and as such, Magnetar Financial exercises voting and investment power over the shares of common stock held for the Magnetar Funds’ accounts. Magnetar Capital Partners serves as the sole member and parent holding company of Magnetar Financial. Supernova Management is the general partner of Magnetar Capital Partners. The manager of Supernova Management is Mr. Litowitz. As of December 31, 2021, each of Magnetar Financial, Magnetar Capital Partners, Supernova Management and Mr. Litowitz held 1,601,370 Shares. The amount consists of (A) 161,478 shares held for the account of Constellation Fund II; (B) 550,165 shares held for the account of Constellation Master Fund; (C) 113,000 Shares held for the account of Systematic Master Fund; (D) 46,582 shares held for the account of Capital Master Fund; (E) 12,788 shares held for the account of Discovery Master Fund; (F) 188,628 shares held for the account of Xing He Master Fund; (G) 78,594 shares held for the account of Purpose Fund; (H) 125,751 shares held for the account of SC Fund; (I) 214,350 shares held for the account of Structured Credit Fund; (J) 84,312 Shares held for the account of Lake Credit Fund; and (K) 25,722 shares held of the account of Purpose Fund - T. The shares held by the Magnetar Funds represent approximately 8.01% of the total number of shares outstanding. |
As of the date of this report, our initial stockholders beneficially own 20% of the then issued and outstanding shares of common stock and have the right to elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination as a result of holding all of the shares of Class B common stock. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to elect any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. In addition, because of their ownership block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including amendments to our certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions.
Our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($6,000,000 in the aggregate) in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our IPO. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our IPO, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in our IPO except
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that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees: (1) they will not be redeemable by us (except, in certain circumstances, when the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share); (2) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, as described below; (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (4) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights, as described below.
Our sponsor and our directors and officers are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence” below for additional information regarding our relationships with our promoters.
Transfers of Class B common stock and Private Placement Warrants
The Class B common stock, private placement warrants and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the letter agreement with us to be entered into by our initial stockholders, directors and officers. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (1) in the case of the Class B common stock, until the earlier of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) for any 20-trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property, and (2) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective shares of Class A common stock underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) to our directors or officers, any affiliates or family members of any of our directors or officers, 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 the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (f) in the event of our liquidation prior to our completion of our initial business combination; (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement, as amended, upon dissolution of our sponsor; or (h) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (e) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions.
Registration Rights
The holders of the Class B common stock, private placement warrants and any warrants that may be issued on conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans and upon conversion of the Class B common stock) are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed concurrently with the close of our IPO, which requires us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Class B common stock, only after conversion to shares of our Class A common stock). The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period as described under “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters—Transfers of Class B common stock and Private Placement Warrants.” We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
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Item 13. |
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence. |
In January 2021, our sponsor purchased 5,750,000 Class B common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. 750,000 founder shares forfeited by our sponsor when the underwriters’ over-allotment option lapsed unexercised. Our initial stockholders collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock as of the date of this report.
Our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1.50 per warrant ($6,000,000 in the aggregate) in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our IPO. Each private placement warrant may be exercised for one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. The private placement warrants (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by it until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.
If any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our directors and officers currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
We entered into an Administrative Services Agreement with an affiliate of our sponsor, pursuant to which we pay a total of $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services to such affiliate. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. Accordingly, in the event the consummation of our initial business combination takes 24 months, an affiliate of our sponsor will be paid a total of $240,000 ($10,000 per month) for office space, administrative and support services and will be entitled to be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses.
Our audit committee will review and approve all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, directors, officers or our or any of their respective affiliates, which may include reimbursement of 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. 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.
On January 5, 2021, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note to our sponsor (the “Promissory Note”), pursuant to which our sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to our IPO. The Promissory Note was non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of September 30, 2021 or the completion of our IPO. The borrowings outstanding under the Promissory Note of $300,000 were repaid upon the consummation of our IPO in May 2021.
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 directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. As of December 31, 2021, there were no amounts drawn. On February 22, 2022, the Sponsor committed to provide the Company with a total of up to $1,500,000 for working capital purposes. These loans will be non-interest bearing and may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. 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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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 officer and director compensation.
We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the Class B common stock, private placement warrants and warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans (if any), which is described under the heading “Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters—Registration Rights.”
Related Party Policy
Prior to the consummation of our IPO, we had not yet adopted a formal policy for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions as of the completion of the initial business combination. Accordingly, the transactions discussed above that occurred prior to the completion of our IPO, were not reviewed, approved or ratified in accordance with any such policy.
Since the completion of our IPO, we have adopted 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 of directors) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our Code of Ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company.
In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter, is 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 is required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee constitutes a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee is required to approve a related party transaction. Our audit committee will review and approve all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, directors, officers or our or any of their respective affiliates, which may include reimbursement of 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.
These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, prior to consummating an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our sponsor, directors or officers, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Furthermore, there will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made by us to our sponsor, directors or officers, or our or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination, other than from any permitted withdrawals:
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• |
Repayment of an aggregate of up to $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
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• |
Payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of a total of $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services; |
83
|
• |
Payment of customary fees for financial advisory services; |
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• |
Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and |
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• |
Repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our directors and officers to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. |
The above payments may be funded using the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account or, upon completion of the initial business combination, from any amounts remaining from the proceeds of the trust account released to us in connection therewith.
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Item 14. |
Principal Accountant Fees and Services. |
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Marcum LLP (“Marcum”) for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Marcum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Marcum for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of the financial information included in our Forms 10-Q for the respective periods and other required filings with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2021 totaled $108,150. The above amounts include interim procedures and audit fees, as well as attendance at audit committee meetings.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related services consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay Marcum for audit related fees for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Tax Fees. We did not pay Marcum for tax fees for the year ended December 31, 2021.
All Other Fees. We did not pay Marcum for other services for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our IPO. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
84
PART IV
Item 15. |
Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules. |
(a) |
The following documents are filed as part of this report on Form 10-K: |
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1. |
Financial Statements: See “Index to Financial Statements” at page F-1. |
(b) |
Financial Statement Schedules. All schedules are omitted for the reason that the information is included in the financial statements or the notes thereto or that they are not required or are not applicable. |
(c) |
Exhibits: The exhibits listed in the accompanying index to exhibits are filed or incorporated by reference as part of this report on Form 10-K. |
Exhibit |
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Description |
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3.2 |
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4.3 |
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4.4 |
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4.5* |
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10.1 |
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10.2 |
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10.3 |
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10.4 |
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10.5 |
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10.6 |
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10.7 |
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10.8 |
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85
10.9 |
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10.10 |
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10.11* |
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Indemnification Agreement, dated November 30, 2021, between the Company and Christina Fok |
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31.1* |
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31.2* |
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32.1+ |
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32.2+ |
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101.INS* |
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Inline XBRL Instance Document– the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document. |
101.SCH* |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document |
101.CAL* |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document |
101.DEF* |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document |
101.LAB* |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document |
101.PRE* |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document |
104 |
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The cover page for the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K has been formatted in Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101. |
* Filed herewith
+ The certifications furnished in Exhibits 32.1 and 32.2 hereto are deemed to accompany this Annual Report on Form 10-K and are not deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liability of that section, nor shall they be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.
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Item 16. |
Form 10–K Summary. |
Not applicable.
86
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Company has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Austin, State of Texas, on March 30, 2022.
BUILD ACQUISITION CORP. |
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By: |
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/s/ Zeynep Young |
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Name: Zeynep Young |
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Title: Co-Chief Executive Officer |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Company and in the capacities and on the dates indicated:
Name |
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Position |
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Date |
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/s/ A. Lanham Napier A. Lanham Napier |
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Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chairman (Principal Executive Officer) |
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March 30, 2022 |
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/s/ Zeynep Young Zeynep Young |
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Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) |
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March 30, 2022 |
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/s/ Christina Fok Christina Fok |
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Chief Financial Officer and Compliance Officer (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer) |
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March 30, 2022 |
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/s/ Noam Ohana Noam Ohana |
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Director |
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March 30, 2022 |
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/s/ Owen Van Natta Owen Van Natta |
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Director |
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March 30, 2022 |
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/s/ James C. Weaver James C. Weaver |
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Director |
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March 30, 2022 |
87
BUILD ACQUISITION CORP.
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
F.
F-2 |
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Financial Statements: |
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F-3 |
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F-4 |
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F-5 |
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F-6 |
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F-7 to F-20 |
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of Build Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Build Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 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 December 31, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, if the Company is unable to raise additional funds to alleviate liquidity needs as well as complete a Business Combination by the close of business on March 19, 2023, then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. This date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the “PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.
March 30, 2022
PCAOB ID Number
F-2
BUILD ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE SHEET
DECEMBER 31, 2021
ASSETS |
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Current Assets |
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Cash |
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$ |
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Prepaid expenses |
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Total Current Assets |
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Marketable securities held in Trust Account |
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TOTAL ASSETS |
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$ |
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LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT |
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Current Liabilities |
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Accrued expenses |
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$ |
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Total Current Liabilities |
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Warrant liabilities |
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Deferred underwriting fee payable |
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Total Liabilities |
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Commitments and Contingencies |
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Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, $ |
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Stockholders’ Deficit |
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Preferred stock, $ |
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Class A common stock, $ |
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— |
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Class B common stock, $ |
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Additional paid-in capital |
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— |
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Accumulated deficit |
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( |
) |
Total Stockholders’ Deficit |
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( |
) |
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT |
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$ |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-3
BUILD ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021
Operating and formation costs |
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$ |
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Loss from operations |
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( |
) |
Other income (expense): |
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Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account |
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Transaction costs associated with warrant liabilities |
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( |
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Change in fair value of warrant liabilities |
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Other income, net |
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Net loss |
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$ |
( |
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Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class A common stock |
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Basic and diluted net loss per share, Class A common stock |
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$ |
( |
) |
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class B common stock |
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Basic and diluted net loss per share, Class B common stock |
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$ |
( |
) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-4
BUILD ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021
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Class A Common Stock |
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Class B Common Stock |
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Additional Paid-in |
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Accumulated |
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Total Stockholders’ |
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Shares |
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Amount |
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Shares |
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Amount |
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Capital |
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Deficit |
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Deficit |
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Balance – January 1, 2021 (Commencement of Operations) |
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— |
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$ |
— |
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— |
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$ |
— |
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$ |
— |
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$ |
— |
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$ |
— |
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Issuance of Class B common stock |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Accretion of Class A Common Stock to redemption amount |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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( |
) |
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( |
) |
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( |
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Cash paid in excess of fair value for Private Placement Warrants |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Forfeiture of Founder Shares |
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— |
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— |
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( |
) |
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( |
) |
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— |
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— |
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Net loss |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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( |
) |
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( |
) |
Balance – December 31, 2021 |
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— |
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$ |
— |
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$ |
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$ |
— |
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$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-5
BUILD ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: |
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Net loss |
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$ |
( |
) |
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: |
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Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account |
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( |
) |
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities |
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( |
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Transaction costs allocable to warrant liabilities |
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Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
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Prepaid expenses |
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( |
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Accrued expenses |
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Net cash used in operating activities |
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( |
) |
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Cash Flows from Investing Activities: |
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Investment of cash in Trust Account |
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( |
) |
Net cash used in investing activities |
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( |
) |
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Cash Flows from Financing Activities: |
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Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriting discounts paid |
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Proceeds from sale of Private Placement Warrants |
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Repayment of promissory note - related party |
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( |
) |
Proceeds from promissory note – related party |
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Payment of offering costs |
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( |
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Net cash provided by financing activities |
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Net Change in Cash |
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Cash – Beginning of period |
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— |
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Cash – End of period |
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$ |
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Non-Cash investing and financing activities: |
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Offering costs paid directly by Sponsor in exchange for the issuance of Class B common stock |
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$ |
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Forfeiture of Founder Shares |
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$ |
( |
) |
Deferred underwriting fee payable |
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$ |
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|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-6
NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Build Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on December 23, 2020. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or other similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2021, relates to the Company’s formation, initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”), which is described below, and identifying a target company for a Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company generates non-operating income in the form of interest income from the marketable securities held in the Trust Account (as defined below). The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on March 16, 2021. On March 19, 2021, the Company completed the Initial Public Offering of
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company completed the sale of
Transaction costs amounted to $
Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on March 19, 2021, an amount of $
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. NYSE rules provide that the Business Combination must be with one or more target businesses or assets 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 on the Trust Account) at the time of the signing of a definitive agreement to enter a Business Combination. The Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-Business Combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.
The Company will provide its holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “public stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public stockholders will be entitled
F-7
to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially $10.00 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants.
The Company will proceed with a Business Combination only if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $
Notwithstanding the above, if the Company seeks stockholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% or more of the Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company.
The Company’s Sponsor and the other holders of the Founder Shares prior to the Initial Public Offering (the “initial stockholders”), directors and officers have agreed (a) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the Company’s Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless the Company provides the public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
The Company will have until March 19, 2023, to complete a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”). If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations (less up to $
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 or any of the Company’s directors, officers or affiliates acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial
F-8
Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 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 assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Initial Public Offering price per Unit ($10.00).
In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (1) $10.00 per Public Share or (2) the actual amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay the Company’s taxes. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and except as to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Going Concern
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Financial Accounting Standard Board’s (“FASB’s”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” management has determined that if the Company is unable to raise additional funds to alleviate liquidity needs as well as complete a Business Combination by March 19, 2022, then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The liquidity condition and date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after March 19, 2023.
NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statement is presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions
F-9
from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statement with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. One of the more significant accounting estimates included in these financial statements is the determination of the fair value of the warrant liabilities. Such estimates may be subject to change as more current information becomes available and accordingly the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company did
Marketable Securities Held in Trust Account
At December 31, 2021, substantially all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in money market funds which are invested primarily in U.S. Treasury securities. All of the Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of investments held in Trust Account are included in interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account in the accompanying statement of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in Trust Account are determined using available market information.
Offering Costs
Offering costs consist of underwriting, legal, accounting and other expenses incurred through the Initial Public Offering that are directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs amounting to $
F-10
of which $
Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2021, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ deficit section of the Company’s balance sheet.
The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable common stock to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable common stock are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
At December 31, 2021, the Class A common stock subject to redemption reflected in the balance sheet is reconciled in the following table:
Gross proceeds |
|
$ |
|
|
Less: |
|
|
|
|
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants |
|
|
( |
) |
Class A common stock issuance costs |
|
|
( |
) |
Plus: |
|
|
|
|
Accretion of carrying value to redemption value |
|
|
|
|
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption |
|
$ |
|
|
Warrant Liabilities
The Company accounts for the Public Warrants (as defined in Note 4) and Private Placement Warrants (together, with the Public Warrants, the “Warrants”) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40 under which the Warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, the Company classifies the Warrants as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the Warrants to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statement of operations. The Private Placement Warrants and the Public Warrants for periods where no observable traded price was available were valued using a lattice model, specifically a binomial lattice model incorporating the Cox-Ross-Rubenstein methodology. For periods subsequent to the detachment of the Public Warrants from the Units, the Public Warrant quoted market price was used as the fair value as of each relevant date.
Income Taxes
The Company complies with the accounting and reporting requirements of ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes,” which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed for differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in future taxable or deductible amounts, based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to
F-11
the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
ASC Topic 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits, if any, as income tax expense. There were
Net Income (Loss) per Common Stock
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share”. The Company has two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class A common stock and class B common stock. Income and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Net income (loss) per share of common stock is calculated by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the respective period. Accretion associated with the redeemable shares of Class A common stock is excluded from income (loss) per common stock as the redemption value approximates fair value.
The calculation of diluted income (loss) per common stock does not consider the effect of the warrants issued in connection with the (i) Initial Public Offering, and (ii) the private placement since the exercise of the warrants is contingent upon the occurrence of future events. The warrants are exercisable to purchase
The following table reflects the calculation of basic and diluted net loss per common stock (in dollars, except per share amounts):
|
|
Year Ended December 31, 2021 |
|
|||||
|
|
Class A |
|
|
Class B |
|
||
Basic and diluted net loss per common stock |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Numerator: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Allocation of net loss, as adjusted |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
Denominator: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic and diluted net loss per common stock |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
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 $
F-12
Fair value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature, except for warrant liabilities (see Note 10).
Fair Value Measurements
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
|
• |
Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets; |
|
• |
Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and |
|
• |
Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. |
In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”. For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value on the grant date and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statement of operations. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is evaluated at the end of each reporting period. Derivative liabilities are classified in the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date.
Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06- Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (“ASU 2020-06”) to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-converted method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2022 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, that ASU 2020-06 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
F-13
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
NOTE 3. INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING
Pursuant to the Initial Public Offering, the Company sold
NOTE 4. PRIVATE PLACEMENT
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of
NOTE 5. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Founder Shares
On January 5, 2021, the Sponsor paid $
The sponsor has agreed, subject to certain limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (1) one year after the completion of a Business Combination and (2) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $
Administrative Support Agreement
The Company entered into an agreement, commencing on March 16, 2021, pursuant to which the Company will pay an affiliate of the Sponsor a total not to exceed $
F-14
Promissory Note — Related Party
On January 5, 2021, the Sponsor issued an unsecured promissory note to the Company (the “Promissory Note”), pursuant to which the Company could borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans, but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $
Operating Expenses
The Sponsor from time to time, incurs and pays travel and other operating expenses on behalf of the Company. These expenses are subsequently reimbursed by the Company. At December 31, 2021, a total of $
NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS
Registration Rights
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into on March 16, 2021, the holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the Founder Shares) have registration rights requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to shares of our Class A common stock). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to
Underwriting Agreement
F-15
The underwriters are entitled to a deferred fee of $
NOTE 7. STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
Preferred Stock — The Company is authorized to issue
Class A Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue up to
Class B Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue up to
Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of shareholders, 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 a Business Combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, 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 issued in the Initial Public Offering and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which the shares of Class B common stock will convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class B common stock agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis,
NOTE 8. WARRANT LIABILITIES
As of December 31, 2021, there were
Public Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a)
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a Public Warrant and will have no obligation to settle such Public Warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No warrant will be exercisable for cash or
F-16
on a cashless basis, and the Company 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.
The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of a Business Combination, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the issuance, under the Securities Act, of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. The Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of a Business Combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If any such registration statement has not been declared effective by the 60th business day following the closing of a Business Combination, holders of the warrants will have the right, during the period beginning on the 61st business day after the closing of a Business Combination and ending upon such registration statement being declared effective by the SEC, and during any other period when the company fails to have maintained an effective registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to exercise such warrants on a “cashless basis.” Notwithstanding the above, if the shares of Class A common stock are, at the time of any exercise of a warrant, not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, the Company will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per share of Class A common stock Equals or Exceeds $18.00—Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding Public Warrants:
|
• |
in whole and not in part; |
|
• |
at a price of $ |
|
• |
upon not less than |
|
• |
if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the shares of Class A common stock for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends to the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $ |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if it is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per share of Class A common stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00—Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
|
• |
in whole and not in part; |
|
• |
at $ |
|
• |
if, and only if, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $ |
|
• |
if the Reference Value is less than $ |
F-17
The exercise price and number of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, extraordinary dividend or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, except as described below, the Public Warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of Class A common stock at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the Public Warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of Public Warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their Public Warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with respect to such Public Warrants. Accordingly, the Public Warrants may expire worthless.
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of its initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants will and the common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
NOTE 9. INCOME TAX
The income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2021 consists of the following:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|
|
|
2021 |
|
|
Federal |
|
|
|
|
Current |
|
$ |
— |
|
Deferred |
|
|
( |
) |
State and Local |
|
|
|
|
Current |
|
|
— |
|
Deferred |
|
|
— |
|
Change in valuation allowance |
|
|
|
|
Income tax provision |
|
$ |
— |
|
F-18
A reconciliation of the federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2021 is as follows:
|
|
December 31, 2021 |
|
|
Statutory federal income tax rate |
|
|
|
% |
State taxes, net of federal tax benefit |
|
|
|
% |
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities |
|
|
|
% |
Transaction costs allocable to warrant liabilities |
|
|
( |
)% |
Penalty and Interest |
|
|
( |
)% |
Valuation allowance |
|
|
( |
)% |
Income tax provision |
|
|
|
% |
The Company’s net deferred tax assets at December 31, 2021 is as follows:
|
|
December 31, |
|
|
|
|
2021 |
|
|
Deferred tax assets |
|
|
|
|
Net operating loss carryforward |
|
$ |
|
|
Startup/Organization Expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total deferred tax assets |
|
|
|
|
Valuation Allowance |
|
|
( |
) |
Deferred tax assets, net |
|
$ |
— |
|
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had $
In assessing the realization of the deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion of all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. After consideration of all of the information available, management believes that significant uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of the deferred tax assets and has therefore established a full valuation allowance. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the change in the valuation allowance was $
The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and is subject to examination by the various taxing authorities. The Company’s tax returns for the year ended December 31 2021 remain open and subject to examination. The Company considers Texas to be a significant state tax jurisdiction.
NOTE 10. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The Company follows the guidance in ASC 820 for its financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at each reporting period, and non-financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at least annually.
F-19
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2021, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
Description |
|
Level |
|
|
December 31, 2021 |
|
||
Assets: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marketable securities held in Trust Account |
|
|
1 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
Liabilities: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Warrant Liabilities – Public Warrants |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Warrant Liabilities – Private Placement Warrants |
|
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
The Warrants are accounted for as liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40 and are presented within warrant liabilities in the accompanying balance sheet. The warrant liabilities are measured at fair value at inception and on a recurring basis, with changes in fair value presented within change in fair value of warrant liabilities in the statement of operations.
The Warrants were initially valued using a lattice model, specifically a binomial lattice model incorporating the Cox-Ross-Rubenstein methodology, which is considered to be a Level 3 fair value measurement. The primary unobservable input utilized in determining the fair value of the Warrants is the expected volatility of the Company’s common stock. The expected volatility as of the Initial Public Offering date was derived from observable public warrant pricing on comparable ‘blank-check’ companies without an identified target. For periods subsequent to the detachment of the warrants from the Units, the close price of the Public Warrants was used as the fair value of the Public Warrants as of each relevant date. The measurement of the Public Warrants after the detachment of the Public Warrants from the Units is classified as Level 1 due to the use of an observable market quote in an active market. The Private Placement Warrants were subsequently valued using a binomial lattice model incorporating the Cox-Ross-Rubenstein methodology, which is considered to be a Level 3 fair value measurement. The primary unobservable input utilized in determining the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants is the expected volatility of the Company’s shares of common stock. The expected volatility of the Company’s shares of common stock was determined based on the implied volatility of the Public Warrants.
Input |
|
December 31, 2021 |
|
|
March 19, 2021 (Initial Measurement) |
|
||
Market price of public shares |
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
Risk-free rate |
|
|
|
% |
|
|
|
% |
Dividend yield |
|
|
|
% |
|
|
|
% |
Exercise price |
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
Effective expiration date |
|
|
|
|
|
|
F-20
The following table presents the changes in the fair value of Level 3 warrant liabilities:
|
|
Private Placement |
|
|
Public |
|
|
Warrant Liabilities |
|
|||
Fair value as of January 1, 2021 |
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
Initial measurement on March 19, 2021 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Change in fair value |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Fair Value at March 31, 2021 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Transfers to Level 1 |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Change in fair value |
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|
Fair Value at June 30, 2021 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|
Change in fair value |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
( |
) |
Fair value as of September 30, 2021 |
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
$ |
|
|
Change in fair value |
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|
Fair value as of December 31, 2021 |
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
$ |
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Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2 and 3 are recognized at the beginning of the reporting period. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Public Warrants were transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 1 measurement as the Public Warrants were separately listed and trading beginning March 31, 2021. The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 1 fair value measurement during the year ended December 31, 2021 was $
NOTE 11. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
F-21