UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
For
the fiscal year ended
OR
For the transition period from ____________ to ____________
Commission
File Number:
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) |
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
Units, each consisting of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant | FST.U | The New York Stock Exchange | ||
Redeemable warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one share of Class A common stock | FST WS | The New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2)
has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule
405 of Regulation S-T (Section 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 definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
☒ | Smaller reporting company | ||
Emerging growth company |
If
an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the Registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying
with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness
of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered
public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes
The
aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates
of the registrant, at June 30, 2021, computed by reference to the closing price of the units reported on the New York Stock Exchange
on such date, was approximately $
As of March 31, 2022, there were
Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.
Table of Contents
i
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this annual report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report on Form 10-K”) may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management 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 in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may include, for example, statements about:
● | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; | |
● | our ability to complete our initial business combination; | |
● | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses; | |
● | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; | |
● | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; | |
● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; | |
● | our pool of prospective target businesses; | |
● | the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) on our ability to consummate an initial business combination or on the restaurant and hospitality related sectors; | |
● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities; | |
● | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; | |
● | the lack of a market for our securities; | |
● | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; | |
● | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or | |
● | our financial performance. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K entitled “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.
ii
PART I
References in this report to “we,” “us” or the “Company” refer to FAST Acquisition Corp. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, and references to the “Sponsor” refer to FAST Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.
Item 1. Business.
Introduction
We are a blank check company formed as a Delaware corporation for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “business combination”). We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenue to date. Based on our business activities, the Company is a “shell company” as defined under the Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) because we have no operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash.
On August 25, 2020, we consummated our initial public offering (the “initial public offering”) of 20,000,000 units (the “units”). Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock for $11.50 per share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $200.0 million. We granted the underwriters for the initial public offering a 45-day option to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units to cover over-allotments, if any. On October 9, 2020, the underwriters’ over-allotment option expired unexercised.
Simultaneously with the consummation of the initial public offering, we completed the private sale (the “private placement”) of an aggregate of 6,000,000 warrants (the “private placement warrants”) to the Sponsor at a purchase price of $1.00 per warrant, generating gross proceeds of $6,000,000.
Prior to the consummation of the initial public offering, on June 4, 2020, we issued an aggregate of 7,187,500 shares (the “founder shares”) of our Class B common stock to the Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 in cash. On August 4, 2020, our sponsor surrendered 1,437,500 founder shares to us for cancellation for no consideration. On October 9, 2020, the underwriters’ over-allotment option expired unexercised, and, as a result, the Sponsor forfeited 750,000 founder shares, resulting in the Sponsor holding an aggregate of 5,000,000 founder shares.
A total of $200.0 million, comprised of $196.0 million of the proceeds from the initial public offering (which amount includes $7.0 million of the underwriters’ deferred discount) and $4.0 million of the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants, was placed in a U.S.-based trust account (the “trust account”) at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.
The funds held in the trust account are invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, until the earlier of: (i) the consummation of an initial business combination or (ii) the distribution of the trust account, as described below.
As of December 31, 2021, there was approximately $200.00 million in investments and cash held in the trust account, which includes interest income of approximately $28,000 available to us for franchise and income tax obligations, and approximately $5.0 million of cash held outside the trust account. As of December 31, 2021, we have withdrawn approximately $96,000 interest earned from the trust account to pay taxes.
Other than as specifically discussed, this report does not assume the closing of the Business Combination.
1
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
General
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations until the consummation of our initial business combination. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash held in the trust account, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of 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.
Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or sector, we intend to focus on middle-market businesses, companies which have strong public comparables, established companies with proven track records, companies with proven revenue and earnings growth or potential for revenue and earnings growth, have an experienced management team, in sectors exhibiting secular growth or with potential for cyclical uptick and businesses that will benefit from being publicly-traded. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (as amended on August 20, 2020, our “amended and restated certificate of incorporation”) prohibits us from effectuating a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations.
The New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) listing rules require that we must consummate an initial business combination 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 commissions). Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
2
In evaluating prospective business combinations, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review process that will encompass, among other things, a review of historical and projected financial and operating data, meetings with management and their advisors (if applicable), on-site inspection of facilities and assets, discussion with customers and suppliers, legal reviews and other reviews as we deem appropriate.
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 prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with the Sponsor or our officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with the Sponsor, our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Redemption rights for holders of public shares upon consummation of the initial business combination
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is approximately $10.00 per public share as of December 31, 2021. 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 Sponsor, our officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and shares of Class A common stock underlying the private placement warrants (the “private placement shares”) and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Conduct of redemptions pursuant to tender offer rules
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation: (a) conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and (b) 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.
Submission of our initial business combination to a stockholder vote
In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock are voted in favor of the initial business combination. In such case, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after the initial public offering, in favor of our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares they may hold in connection with the consummation of the initial business combination.
3
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, initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants or a combination thereof in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit on the number of our securities our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the NYSE rules. 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 non-public information), our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such persons will be subject to restrictions in making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules. We expect any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A common stock or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if we Seek Stockholder Approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” Such restriction shall also be applicable to our affiliates. 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 initial business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with an initial 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.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have until twenty-four (24) months from the closing of our initial public offering, or August 25, 2022, to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic business combinations. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than we do. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the initial business combination of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
4
Employees
We currently have four officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters, but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the initial business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Recent Developments
On February 1, 2021, we entered into an agreement and plan of merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Fertitta Entertainment, Inc., a Texas corporation (“FEI”), FAST Merger Corp., a Texas corporation and direct subsidiary of the Company (“FAST Merger Corp.”) and FAST Merger Sub Inc., a Texas corporation and direct subsidiary of FAST Merger Corp. (“Merger Sub”). However, on December 9, 2021, we entered into a Settlement Agreement with FEI, FAST Merger Corp., Merger Sub and the Sponsor, pursuant to which the parties agreed to mutually terminate the Merger Agreement as of December 9, 2021 and fully and finally resolve all disputes that have arisen between them relating to FEI’s purported termination of the Merger Agreement. The Settlement Agreement mutually terminates the Merger Agreement as of December 9, 2021. By virtue of the termination of the Merger Agreement, the PIPE Subscription Agreements and all other Ancillary Agreements (as defined in the Merger Agreement) terminate in accordance with their terms. The Settlement Agreement provides for both immediate and deferred payments from FEI to the Company. The Settlement Agreement provides that FEI pays $6.0 million to the Company within three business days of the Effective Date (as defined in the Settlement Agreement) of the Settlement Agreement and will further loan $1.0 million to the Company within five business days of the Effective Date of the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement provides that FEI will further pay to the Company either (i) $10.0 million in the event that the Company consummates an initial business combination, or (ii) $26.0 million if the Company does not consummate an initial business combination and determines to redeem its public shares and liquidate and dissolve. The Settlement Agreement contains mutual releases by all parties, for all claims known and unknown, relating and arising out of, or relating to, among other things, the Merger Agreement and FEI’s purported termination notice dated December 1, 2021. The Settlement Agreement also contains a covenant not to sue and other customary terms. As of December 31, 2021, the $6.0 million settlement and $1.0 million loan were paid to us. The $1.0 million loan agreement was entered into December 14, 2021 (“Convertible Promissory Note”) and is convertible, in any amount, at the option of the payee into warrants to purchase shares of Class A common stock of the Company at a conversion price of $1.00 per warrant. If converted the warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The Convertible Promissory Note bears no interest and matures on the date of a business combination.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We are required to file Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q with the SEC on a regular basis, and are required to disclose certain material events in a Current Report on Form 8-K. The SEC maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s Internet website is located at www.sec.gov. In addition, the Company will provide copies of these documents without charge upon request from us in writing at 109 Old Branchville Rd., Ridgefield, CT or by telephone at (201) 956-1969.
We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), or International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”), depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
5
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
We filed a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our shares of Class A common stock that are held by non-affiliates 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 $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
6
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risk Factor Summary
● | We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
● | Our stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination. |
● | Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash. |
● | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote. |
● | The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target. |
● | The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
● | The requirement that we complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022 may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders. |
● | Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets. |
● | We may not be able to complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate. |
● | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock. |
7
● | 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. |
● | You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
● | Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
● | If the net proceeds of the initial public offering not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least until August 25, 2022, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination. |
● | Past performance by our management team and their affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us. |
● | You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss. |
● | The 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. |
● | 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. |
● | Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results. |
● | We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This material weakness could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner. |
● | We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. |
Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
Our stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination if the business combination would not require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange requirement, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Even if we seek stockholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
8
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
Our initial stockholders will own 20% of our outstanding common stock immediately following the completion of the initial public offering. Our initial stockholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A common stock prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, if we seek stockholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares voted at such meeting, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in the initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised). Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial stockholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval for such initial business combination.
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 minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or make us unable to satisfy a minimum cash condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third-party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B common stock results in the issues of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the shares of Class B common stock at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, the amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
9
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022 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 by August 25, 2022. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to spread throughout China and other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.” The COVID-19 outbreak has and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 continues to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
10
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock.
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, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the NYSE rules. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights.
In the event that our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. We expect any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the date on which the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination is to be held. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 and have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if the initial public offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
11
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a stockholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If the net proceeds of the initial public offering not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least until August 25, 2022, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of the initial public offering, only $1,000,000 were available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that the funds available to us outside of the trust account, including the amounts paid and payable to us as a result of the Settlement Agreement (as described herein), are sufficient to allow us to operate for at least until August 25, 2022; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per 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, prospective target businesses and other entities (except for our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm) with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. The underwriters of the initial public offering as well as our registered independent public accounting firm will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
12
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this Annual Report on Form 10-K forms a part, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
13
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
● | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
● | restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including: |
● | registration as an investment company with the SEC; |
● | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
● | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are not subject to. |
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. The initial public offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022; and (iii) absent an initial business combination by August 25, 2022 or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
14
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022 may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 24th month from the closing of the initial public offering in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
Because do not comply with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022 is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our stockholders to elect directors.
In accordance with the NYSE’s corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.
15
Because we are not limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business or businesses that can benefit from our management team’s established global relationships and operating experience. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing strategic investments globally and has done so successfully in a number of sectors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prohibits us from effectuating a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in the initial public offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
16
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or shares of preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 380,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after the initial public offering, there will be 360,000,000 and 15,000,000 authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B common stock. The Class B common stock is automatically convertible into Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Immediately after the initial public offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock or shares of preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth therein. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months from the closing of the initial public offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote. The issuance of additional shares of common stock or shares of preferred stock:
● | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in the initial public offering; |
● | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A common stock; |
17
● | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of Class A common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
● | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or warrants. |
Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies has increased substantially. A number of potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already been acquired, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies pursuing an initial business combination. As a result, fewer attractive targets may be available to consummate an initial business combination. In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for targets may increase and, as a result, the terms of business combination transactions with available targets could become less favorable to us. Attractive transactions 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 us.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
18
Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after the initial public offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On June 19, 2020, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. On August 4, 2020, our sponsor surrendered 1,437,500 founder shares to us for cancellation for no consideration. On October 9, 2020, the underwriters’ over-allotment option expired unexercised, and, as a result, the Sponsor forfeited 750,000 founder shares, resulting in the Sponsor holding an aggregate of 5,000,000 founder shares. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 6,000,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable for one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein, for an aggregate purchase price of $6,000,000, or $1.00 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination within the allocated time period. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, affiliates of our sponsor or an officer or director. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 24-month anniversary of the closing of the initial public offering nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following the initial public offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
● | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
● | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
● | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
● | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
● | our inability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock; |
● | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
● | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
19
● | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
● | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from the initial public offering and the private placement provided us with $193,000,000 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
● | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or |
● | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
20
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders or warrant holders do not agree.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares in connection with such initial business combination, all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our stockholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires us to provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination by August 25, 2022 or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
21
The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of the initial public offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our outstanding common stock upon the closing of the initial public offering, may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to written agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022 or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, executive officers, directors or director nominees for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
Certain agreements related to the initial public offering may be amended without stockholder approval.
Each of the agreements related to the initial public offering to which we are a party, other than the warrant agreement and the investment management trust agreement, may be amended without stockholder approval. Such agreements are: the underwriting agreement; the letter agreement among us and our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors; the registration rights agreement among us and our initial stockholders; the private placement warrants purchase agreement between us and our sponsor; and the administrative services agreement among us, our sponsor and an affiliate of our sponsor. These agreements contain various provisions that our public stockholders might deem to be material. For example, our letter agreement and the underwriting agreement contain certain lock-up provisions with respect to the founder shares, private placement warrants and other securities held by our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors. Amendments to such agreements would require the consent of the applicable parties thereto and would need to be approved by our board of directors, which may do so for a variety of reasons, including to facilitate our initial business combination. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement. Any amendment entered into in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to such initial business combination, and any other material amendment to any of our material agreements will be disclosed in a filing with the SEC. Any such amendments would not require approval from our stockholders, may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities. For example, amendments to the lock-up provision discussed above may result in our initial stockholders selling their securities earlier than they would otherwise be permitted, which may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
22
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
If the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Our initial stockholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our initial stockholders own 20% of our issued and outstanding common stock. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If our initial stockholders purchase any additional Class A common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial stockholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial stockholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial business combination include historical and pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, GAAP or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
23
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2021. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
Our initial business combination and our structure thereafter may not be tax-efficient to our stockholders and warrant holders. As a result of our business combination, our tax obligations may be more complex, burdensome and uncertain.
Although we will attempt to structure our initial business combination in a tax-efficient manner, tax structuring considerations are complex, the relevant facts and law are uncertain and may change, and we may prioritize commercial and other considerations over tax considerations. For example, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to any requisite stockholder approval, we may structure our business combination in a manner that requires stockholders and/or warrant holders to recognize gain or income for tax purposes, effect a business combination with a target company in another jurisdiction, or reincorporate in a different jurisdiction (including, but not limited to, the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located). We do not intend to make any cash distributions to stockholders or warrant holders to pay taxes in connection with our business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, a stockholder or a warrant holder may need to satisfy any liability resulting from our initial business combination with cash from its own funds or by selling all or a portion of the shares received. In addition, stockholders and warrant holders may also be subject to additional income, withholding or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after our initial business combination.
In addition, we may effect a business combination with a target company that has business operations outside of the United States, and possibly, business operations in multiple jurisdictions. If we effect such a business combination, we could be subject to significant income, withholding and other tax obligations in a number of jurisdictions with respect to income, operations and subsidiaries related to those jurisdictions. Due to the complexity of tax obligations and filings in other jurisdictions, we may have a heightened risk related to audits or examinations by U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. taxing authorities. This additional complexity and risk could have an adverse effect on our after-tax profitability and financial condition.
We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriters are entitled to receive deferred commissions that will released from the trust only on a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us, 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 financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing. We may pay such underwriter or its affiliate fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The underwriters’ or their respective affiliates’ financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
24
Risks Relating to the Post Business Combination Company
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Our management may not maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not maintain control of the target business.
25
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
Risks Relating to Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
● | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
● | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
● | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
● | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
● | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
● | tariffs and trade barriers; |
● | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
● | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
● | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
26
● | challenges in managing and staffing international operations; |
● | longer payment cycles; |
● | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
● | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
● | rates of inflation; |
● | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
● | cultural and language differences; |
● | employment regulations; |
● | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
● | corruption; |
● | protection of intellectual property; |
● | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
● | regime changes and political upheaval; |
● | terrorist attacks and wars, including the conflict in Ukraine and the surrounding region; and |
● | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal 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 are currently operating in a period of economic uncertainty and capital markets disruption, which has been significantly impacted by geopolitical instability due to the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected by any negative impact on the global economy and capital markets resulting from the conflict in Ukraine or any other geopolitical tensions.
27
Russian military actions and the resulting sanctions could adversely affect the global economy and financial markets and lead to instability and lack of liquidity in capital markets, potentially making it more difficult for us to obtain additional funds.
Any of the above mentioned factors could affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. The extent and duration of the military action, sanctions and resulting market disruptions are impossible to predict, but could be substantial. Any such disruptions may also magnify the impact of other risks described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Risks Relating to Our Sponsor and Management Team
We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law.
28
Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination.
29
Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Delaware law and we or our stockholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our stockholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
Risks Relating to our Securities
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022 or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination by August 25, 2022, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if our plan to redeem our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination by August 25, 2022 is not completed for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of the initial public offering before they receive funds from our trust account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
30
The securities in which we invest the proceeds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the interest income available for payment of taxes or reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The net proceeds of the initial public offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants, in the amount of $200,000,000, are held in an interest-bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in direct U.S. Treasury obligations having a maturity of 185 days or less, or in certain money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. Treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may withdraw to pay income taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income. If the balance of the trust account is reduced below $200,000,000 as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
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.
We cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum average global market capitalization and a minimum number of holders of our securities. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our global market capitalization would be required to be at least $150 million, the aggregate market value of our publicly-held shares would be required to be at least $40 million and we would be required to have a minimum of 400 round lot holders and 1,100,000 publicly held shares. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If the NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
● | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
● | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
● | a determination that our Class A common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
● | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
● | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
31
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A common stock and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial stockholders will receive additional shares of Class A common stock if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of shares of Class A common stock by public stockholders), including the total number of shares of Class A common stock issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities or rights exercisable for or convertible into shares of Class A common stock issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans, provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. This is different than some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies in which the initial stockholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to our initial business combination.
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 20% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 20% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 20% of the shares sold in the initial public offering without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. 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 20% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
32
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our shares of Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
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 65% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that (a) the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder (i) for the purpose of curing any ambiguity, or curing or, correcting or supplementing any defective provision contained therein or adding or changing any other provisions with respect to matters or questions arising thereunder as the parties may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem shall not adversely affect the interest of the registered holders of the warrants, and (ii) to provide for the delivery of an alternative issuance described above and (b) all other modifications or amendments require the vote or written consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, at least 65% of the then outstanding private placement warrants and warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock (at a ratio different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
33
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 (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.
34
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A common stock or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A common stock included in the units.
We are not registering the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.
If the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
If our shares of Class A common stock are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws.
You may only be able to exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis” under certain circumstances, and if you do so, you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
The warrant agreement provides that in the following circumstances holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do for cash and will, instead, be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act: (i) if the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the terms of the warrant agreement; and (ii) if we have so elected and the shares of Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act. If you exercise your public warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances described in clauses (i) and (ii) in the preceding sentence, you would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our shares of Class A common stock (as defined in the next sentence) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” is the average reported closing price of the shares of Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, as applicable. As a result, you would receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
35
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and holders of our private placement warrants may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our shares of Class A common stock.
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any 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) are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement requiring us to register such securities and any other securities of the company acquired by them prior to the consummation of our initial business combination for resale. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the shares of common stock owned by our initial stockholders, holders of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 10,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock as part of the units sold in the initial public offering and, simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 6,000,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. In addition, if our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors makes any working capital loans, such lender may convert those loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant. To the extent we issue common stock to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock and reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Because each unit contains one-half of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each unit contains one-half of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one common share and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
36
General Risk Factors
Our independent registered public accounting firm's report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations accordance with Financial Accounting Standard Board's Accounting Standards Update 2014-15, we have determined that if the Company is unable to complete a business combination by August 25, 2022, then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to continue as a going concern.
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
Included on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 contained elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are derivative liabilities related to embedded features contained within our warrants. Accounting Standards Codification 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”), provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting non-cash gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being recognized in earnings in the statement of operations. As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly, based on factors which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses on our warrants each reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This material weakness could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our management is likewise required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation of those internal controls. 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 on a timely basis.
As described in Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K/A of FAST Acquisition Corp. as of and for the period ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the SEC on May 13, 2021 (the “First Amended Filing”), we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the accounting for the warrants we issued in connection with our initial public offering in August 2020. As a result of this material weakness, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2020. This material weakness resulted in a material misstatement of our derivative warrant liabilities, change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, accumulated deficit and related financial disclosures as of and for the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, as of September 30, 2020, for the three months ended September 30, 2020, and the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) through September 30, 2020.
As described in Amendment No. 2 (“Amendment No. 2”) to the First Amended Filing, as filed with the SEC on November 19, 2021, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to its accounting classification of the redeemable Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Public Shares”). Historically, a portion of the Public Shares was classified as permanent equity to maintain stockholders’ equity greater than $5 million on the basis that the Company will not redeem its Public Shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001, as described in the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Charter”). Pursuant to the Company’s re-evaluation of the Company’s application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to its accounting classification of the Public Shares, the Company’s management has determined that the Public Shares include certain provisions that require classification of all of the Public Shares as temporary equity regardless of the net tangible assets redemption limitation contained in the Charter. For a discussion of management’s consideration of the material weakness identified related to the Company’s application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to its accounting classification of the Public Share, see “Note 2” to the financial statements included in the Amendment No. 2, as well as Part II, Item 9A: Controls and Procedures included in Amendment No. 2.
As described in Item 9A. “Controls and Procedures,” we have concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was ineffective as of December 31, 2021 because material weaknesses existed in our internal control over financial reporting. We have taken a number of measures to remediate the material weaknesses described therein; however, if we are unable to remediate our material weaknesses in a timely manner or we identify additional material weaknesses, we may be unable to provide required financial information in a timely and reliable manner and we may incorrectly report financial information. Likewise, if our financial statements are not filed on a timely basis, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the stock exchange on which our common stock is listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Failure to timely file will cause us to be ineligible to utilize short form registration statements on Form S-3 or Form S-4, which may impair our ability to obtain capital in a timely fashion to execute our business strategies of issue shares to effect an acquisition. In either case, there could result a material adverse effect on our business. The existence of material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting could adversely affect our reputation or investor perceptions of us, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock. In addition, we will incur additional costs to remediate material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, as described in Item 9A. “Controls and Procedures”.
37
We can give no assurance that the measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weakness identified or that any additional material weaknesses or restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. In addition, even if we are successful in strengthening our controls and procedures, in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of our financial statements.
We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting.
Our management and our audit committee also concluded that it was appropriate to restate our previously issued financial statements for the Affected Periods. See “—We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This material weakness could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.” As part of the restatement, we identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting.
As a result of such material weakness, the restatement, the change in accounting for the warrants and the change in the classification of all of the Public Shares as temporary equity, we face 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 restatement and material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete a business combination.
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through the initial public offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Past performance by our management team and their affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team or businesses associated with them is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of our management team or businesses associated with them as indicative of our future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or is likely to, generate going forward.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
38
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible. Our status as a smaller reporting company is determined annually. We will continue to qualify as a smaller reporting company through the following fiscal year as long as (i) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates (measured as of the end of the second quarter of the then current fiscal year) does not exceed $250 million or (ii) our annual revenues for the most recently completed fiscal year do not exceed $100 million and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates (measured as of the end of the second quarter of the then current fiscal year) does not exceed $700 million. If we exceed these thresholds, we will cease to be a smaller reporting company as of the first day of the following fiscal year.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any claim (A) as to which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Additionally, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal courts shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act against us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or agents. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to these provisions. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputed with us and may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 2. Properties.
Our executive offices are located at 109 Old Branchville Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877. Our executive offices are provided to us by an affiliate of the Sponsor and we have agreed to pay such affiliate of the Sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. 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.
Not applicable.
39
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Our units, Class A common stock and warrants are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols “FST.U,” “FST” and “FST WS,” respectively.
Holders
As of March 31, 2022, there was one holder of record of our units, one holder of record of our Class A common stock and two holders of record of our warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of an 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 conditions subsequent to completion of an initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to an initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we incur any indebtedness, 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
In June 2020, we issued to the Sponsor an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000. On August 4, 2020, our sponsor surrendered 1,437,500 founder shares to us for cancellation for no consideration. On October 9, 2020, the underwriters’ over-allotment option expired unexercised, and, as a result 750,000 founder shares were forfeited resulting in an aggregate of 5,000,000 founder shares. The foregoing issuance was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”).
On August 25, 2020, we consummated our initial public offering of 20,000,000 units. The units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating total gross proceeds of $200,000,000. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and UBS Securities LLC acted as joint bookrunners. acted as co-manager of the offering. The securities sold in the offering were registered under the Securities Act on registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-240333). The SEC declared the registration statement effective on August 20, 2020.
Simultaneously with the consummation of the initial public offering, we consummated a private placement of 6,000,000 private placement warrants to the Sponsor and underwriter at a price of $1.00 per warrant, generating total proceeds of $6,000,000. Such securities were issued pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
The private placement warrants are the same as the warrants sold as part of the units sold in the initial public offering, except the private placement warrants are not transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a business combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, private placement warrants are exercisable on a cashless basis and are non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.
Of the gross proceeds received from the initial public offering and private placement of private placement warrants, $200,000,000 was placed in a trust account.
We paid a total of $4,000,000 in underwriting fees and approximately $546,000 for other costs and expenses related to the initial public offering. In addition, the underwriters agreed to defer $7,000,000 in underwriting fees.
Item 6. [Reserved]
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
References to the “Company,” “FAST Acquisition Corp.,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to FAST Acquisition Corp. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s 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.
40
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. For information identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors section of the Company’s final prospectus for its initial public offering filed with the SEC. The Company’s securities filings can be accessed on the EDGAR section of the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as expressly required by applicable securities law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on June 4, 2020 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 are an emerging growth company and, as such, we are subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
Our Sponsor is FAST Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. The registration statement for our initial public offering was declared effective on August 20, 2020. On August 25, 2020, we consummated our initial public offering of 20,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $200.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $11.5 million, inclusive of $7.0 million in deferred underwriting commissions. The underwriters were granted a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the initial public offering to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units to cover over-allotments, if any, at $10.00 per unit. The over-allotment expired unexercised on October 9, 2020.
Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we consummated the private placement of 6,000,000 private placement warrants to our Sponsor, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating gross proceeds to us of $6.0 million. If the over-allotment option was exercised, our Sponsor could have purchased an additional amount of up to 600,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant. The over-allotment expired unexercised on October 9, 2020.
Upon the closing of the initial public offering and the private placement, $200.0 million ($10.00 per unit) of the net proceeds of the sale of the units in the initial public offering and the private placement was placed in the trust account located in the United States at JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and has been invested only in U.S. “government securities,” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the distribution of the trust account as described below.
Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of private placement warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a business combination.
If we are unable to complete a business combination within 24 months from the closing of the initial public offering, or August 25, 2022, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and the 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.
Termination of Proposed Business Combination and Settlement
On February 1, 2021, we entered into the Merger Agreement with FEI, FAST Merger Corp. and Merger Sub. However, on December 9, 2021, we entered into the Settlement Agreement with FEI, FAST Merger Corp., Merger Sub and the Sponsor, pursuant to which the parties agreed to mutually terminate the Merger Agreement as of December 9, 2021 and fully and finally resolve all disputes that have arisen between them relating to FEI’s purported termination of the Merger Agreement. The Settlement Agreement mutually terminates the Merger Agreement as of December 9, 2021. By virtue of the termination of the Merger Agreement, the PIPE Subscription Agreements and all other Ancillary Agreements (as defined in the Merger Agreement) terminate in accordance with their terms. The Settlement Agreement provides for both immediate and deferred payments from FEI to the Company. The Settlement Agreement provides that FEI will pay $6.0 million to the Company within three business days of the Effective Date (as defined in the Settlement Agreement) of the Settlement Agreement and will further loan $1.0 million to the Company within five business days of the Effective Date of the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement provides that FEI will further pay to the Company either (i) $10.0 million in the event that the Company consummates an initial business combination, or (ii) $26.0 million if the Company does not consummate an initial business combination and determines to redeem its public shares and liquidate and dissolve. The Settlement Agreement contains mutual releases by all parties, for all claims known and unknown, relating and arising out of, or relating to, among other things, the Merger Agreement and FEI’s purported termination notice dated December 1, 2021. The Settlement Agreement also contains a covenant not to sue and other customary terms. As of December 31, 2021, we received the $6.0 million in cash and the $1.0 million loan proceeds. The $1.0 million loan agreement was entered into December 14, 2021 and is convertible, in any amount, at the option of the payee into warrants to purchase shares of Class A common stock of the Company at a conversion price of $1.00 per warrant. If converted the warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The Convertible Promissory Note bears no interest and matures on the date of a business combination.
41
The Settlement Agreement contains mutual releases by all parties, for all claims known and unknown, relating and arising out of, or relating to, among other things, the Merger Agreement and FEI’s purported termination notice dated December 1, 2021. The Settlement Agreement also contains a covenant not to sue and other customary terms.
The foregoing description of the Settlement Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the text of the Settlement Agreement, a copy of which was filed with the SEC on a Current Report on Form 8-K on December 10, 2021.
Liquidity and Going Concern
As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $5.0 million in our operating bank account and working capital of approximately $3.6 million. Prior to the completion of the initial public offering, our liquidity needs were satisfied through a payment of $25,000 from our Sponsor in exchange for the issuance of founder shares, the loan under the Note (as defined below), as well as advancement of funds from our Sponsor of approximately $354,000 to us to cover for offering costs in connection with the initial public offering. Subsequent to the consummation of the initial public offering on August 25, 2020, our liquidity needs had been satisfied with the net proceeds from the consummation of the private placement not held in the trust account. We fully repaid the Note and advanced funds on August 25, 2020. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, our officers, directors and initial stockholders may, but are not obligated to, provide us Working Capital Loans. To date, there were no amounts outstanding under any Working Capital Loans.
According to the Settlement Agreement, on December 14, 2021, we received $1.0 million from under the Convertible Promissory Note to finance our working capital needs. As described above, $1.0 million may be convertible into warrants to purchase Class A common stock at a conversion price of $1.00 per warrant. The Convertible Promissory Note was determined at fair value at issuance and subsequently. As of December 31, 2021, there was approximately $4.7 million of the Convertible Promissory Note presented on the consolidated balance sheets.
In connection with the management assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB ASC 205-40, “Basis of Presentation - Going Concern,” management has determined that mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise 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 August 25, 2022. The financial statements do not include any adjustment that might be necessary if we are unable to continue as a going concern.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Results of Operations
Our entire activity from inception up to December 31, 2021, was in preparation for our formation, the initial public offering, and since the closing of our initial public offering, a search for business combination candidates. We will not generate any operating revenues until the closing and completion of our initial business combination, at the earliest.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net loss of approximately $40.6 million, which consisted of approximately $38.3 million of loss from changes in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities, general and administrative expenses of approximately $3.6 million, related party administrative fees of $180,000, franchise tax expense of approximately $201,000, and approximately $595,000 income tax expense, partially offset by income from our investments held in the trust account of approximately $57,000 and gain on settlement agreement of $3.3 million.
For the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had a net loss of approximately $16.1 million, which consisted of approximately $15.3 million loss from changes in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities, approximately $474,000 financing costs and general and administrative expenses of approximately $214,000, related party administrative fees of $60,000, and franchise tax expense of approximately $114,000, partially offset by income from our investments held in the trust account of approximately $68,000.
42
Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On June 19, 2020, we issued 7,187,500 founder shares to our Sponsor for a payment of $25,000. On August 4, 2020, we effected a share capitalization resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 Class B common stock outstanding. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share capitalization. The initial stockholders agreed to forfeit up to 750,000 founder shares to the extent that the over-allotment option was not exercised in full by the underwriters. The forfeiture would be adjusted to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters so that the founder shares would represent 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares after the initial public offering. The over-allotment expired unexercised on October 9, 2020, resulting in the forfeiture of such shares.
The initial stockholders agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of the initial business combination and (ii) the date following the completion of the initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their common stock for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (1) the last reported sales price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial business combination or (2) if we consummate a transaction after the initial business combination which results in the our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we consummated the private placement of 6,000,000 private placement warrants to our Sponsor, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating gross proceeds to us of $6.0 million.
A certain portion of the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants to out Sponsor was added to the proceeds from the initial public offering held in the trust account. If we do not complete a business combination within the Combination Period, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable for cash and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
Our Sponsor and officers and directors agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their private placement warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial business combination.
Related Party Loans
On June 4, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan us an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the initial public offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan was non-interest bearing and payable upon the completion of the initial public offering. Through August 25, 2020, we borrowed the full $300,000 under the Note and received additional advances of approximately $54,000 from the Sponsor to cover certain offering expenses. We fully repaid the Note and the advances to the Sponsor on August 25, 2020.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us Working Capital Loans. If we complete a business combination, we may repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. 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, we 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. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a business combination or, at the lenders’ discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. 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. To date, we had no Working Capital Loans with related parties.
Contractual Obligations
Registration Rights
The holders of founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the founder shares), are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement. These holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
43
Underwriting Agreement
The underwriters were entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, or $4.0 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the initial public offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or $7.0 million in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the trust account solely in the event that we complete a business combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on August 21, 2020 and continuing until the earlier of the consummation of a business combination or our liquidation, we agreed to pay the Sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities, and secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. For the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we incurred and paid $180,000 and $60,000 related to these services, respectively.
The Sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities performed on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations.
Critical Accounting Policies
Investments Held in the Trust Account
Our portfolio of investments held in the trust account is comprised of U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less, or investments in money market funds that invest in U.S. government securities, or a combination thereof. The 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 these securities are included in net gain from investments held in trust account on the statement of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in the trust account are determined using available market information.
Derivative Warrant liabilities
We do not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. We evaluate all of our financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
The warrants issued in connection with the initial public offering (the “public warrants”) and the private placement warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815, paragraph 40, Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (“ASC 815-40”). Accordingly, we recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities are subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. The fair value of the public warrants issued in connection with the initial public offering and private placement warrants were initially measured at fair value using a Monte Carlo simulation model and subsequently, the fair value of the private placement warrants have been estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation model each measurement date. The fair value of public warrants issued in connection with the initial public offering have subsequently been measured based on the listed market price of such warrants.
Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Shares of conditionally redeemable Class A common stock (including Class A common stock that feature 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) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, shares of Class A common stock are classified as stockholders’ equity. Our Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2021, 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the balance sheet.
The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of the Class A common stock subject to possible redemption to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Immediately upon the closing of the initial public offering, the Company recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount, which, resulted in charges against additional paid-in capital (to the extent available) and accumulated deficit.
44
Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share
We comply with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” We have 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 common share is calculated by dividing the net income (loss) by the weighted average shares of common stock outstanding for the respective period.
We did not consider the effect of the warrants issued in connection with the initial public offering and the private placement to purchase an aggregate of 16,000,000 shares of common stock in the calculation of diluted income (loss) per share because their exercise is contingent upon future events. Accretion associated with the redeemable Class A common stock is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
JOBS Act
The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act are 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, the financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our initial public offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
45
Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
FAST aCQUISITION CORP.
iNDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
F-1
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of
FAST Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of FAST Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Going Concern
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, if the Company is unable complete a business combination by August 25, 2022, then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated 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 audits 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 audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated 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 consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.
March 31, 2022
PCAOB ID Number
F-2
FAST ACQUISITION CORP.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETs
December 31, 2021 and 2020
December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Assets: | ||||||||
Current assets: | ||||||||
Cash | $ | $ | ||||||
Prepaid expenses | ||||||||
Total current assets | ||||||||
Investments held in Trust Account | ||||||||
Total Assets | $ | $ | ||||||
Liabilities, Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption and Stockholders’ Deficit: | ||||||||
Current liabilities: | ||||||||
Accounts payable | $ | $ | ||||||
Accrued expenses | ||||||||
Accrued income tax | ||||||||
Franchise tax payable | ||||||||
Total current liabilities | ||||||||
Convertible promissory note at fair value | ||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities | ||||||||
Deferred underwriting commissions in connection with the initial public offering | ||||||||
Total liabilities | ||||||||
Commitments and Contingencies | ||||||||
Class A common stock; | ||||||||
Stockholders’ Deficit: | ||||||||
Preferred stock, | ||||||||
Class A common stock, | ||||||||
Class B common stock, | ||||||||
Additional paid-in capital | ||||||||
Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Total stockholders’ deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Total Liabilities, Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption and Stockholders’ Deficit | $ | $ |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-3
FAST ACQUISITION CORP.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | For the Period From June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | |||||||
General and administrative expenses | $ | $ | ||||||
Administrative expenses - related party | ||||||||
Franchise tax expense | ||||||||
Loss from operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Other (expense) income: | ||||||||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Change in fair value of convertible promissory note | ( | ) | ||||||
Financing cost - derivative warrant liabilities | ( | ) | ||||||
Net gain (loss) from investments held in Trust Account | ||||||||
Gain on settlement agreement | ||||||||
Loss before income tax expense | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Income tax expense | ||||||||
Net loss | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A common stock | ||||||||
Basic and diluted net loss per share, Class A common stock | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B common stock | ||||||||
Basic and diluted net loss per share, Class B common stock | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-4
FAST ACQUISITION CORP.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common Stock | Additional | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Paid-In | Accumulated | Stockholders’ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Deficit | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance - December 31, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance - December 31, 2021 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
For the Period From June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common Stock | Additional | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Paid-In | Accumulated | Stockholders’ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Deficit | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance - June 4, 2020 (inception) | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Excess of cash received over fair value of private placement warrants | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Forfeiture of Class B common stock | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accretion of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption amount | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance - December 31, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-5
FAST ACQUISITION CORP.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | For the Period From June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||||||
Net loss | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | ||||||||
Change in fair value of convertible promissory note | ||||||||
Financing Costs - derivative warrant liabilities | ||||||||
Net gain from investments held in Trust Account | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
Accounts payable | ||||||||
Prepaid expenses | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Accrued expenses | ( | ) | ||||||
Accrued income tax | ||||||||
Franchise tax payable | ( | ) | ||||||
Net cash provided by (used) in operating activities | ( | ) | ||||||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities | ||||||||
Cash deposited in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||||||
Interest released from Trust Account | ||||||||
Net cash provided by (used) in investing activities | ( | ) | ||||||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||||||
Proceeds from convertible note | ||||||||
Proceeds from issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor | ||||||||
Proceeds from note payable to related party | ||||||||
Repayment of advances to related party | ( | ) | ||||||
Advances from related party | ||||||||
Repayment of advances from related party | ( | ) | ||||||
Proceeds received from initial public offering, gross | ||||||||
Proceeds received from private placement | ||||||||
Offering costs paid | ( | ) | ||||||
Net cash provided by financing activities | ||||||||
Net increase in cash | ||||||||
Cash - beginning of the period | ||||||||
Cash - end of the period | $ | $ | ||||||
Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities: | ||||||||
Forfeiture of Class B common stock | $ | $ | ||||||
Offering costs included in accrued expenses | $ | $ | ||||||
Deferred underwriting commissions in connection with the initial public offering | $ | $ |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-6
FAST ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS
Note 1 - Description of Organization, Business Operations and Basis of Presentation
FAST Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on June 4, 2020. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is an emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2021, relates to the Company’s formation and the preparation of the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) described below, and since the Initial Public Offering, the search for a prospective initial Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. The Company’s fiscal year end is December 31.
The Company’s sponsor is FAST Sponsor, LLC,
a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering
was declared effective on August 20, 2020. On August 25, 2020, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial
Public Offering, the Company consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering
and the Private Placement, $
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 Private Placement Warrants,
although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There
is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial
Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least
F-7
The Company will provide the holders of the Company’s
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, subject to applicable law and stock exchange listing requirements.
The Public Stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then held in the Trust Account
(initially anticipated to be $
The Company will proceed with a Business Combination
only if a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. The Company will not redeem the Public Shares in
an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $
The Certificate of Incorporation provides that
a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert
or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)),
will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of
The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and
directors (the “initial stockholders”) have agreed not to propose an amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation to modify
the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem
If the Company is unable to complete a Business
Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or August 25, 2022 (as such period may be extended by the
Company’s stockholders in accordance with the Certificate of Incorporation, 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 (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $
F-8
The initial stockholders agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the initial stockholders acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to the deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within in the Combination Period, and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only $10.00 or potentially less. 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 (except for the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into a letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement (a “Target”), reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per Public Share and (ii) the actual amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per Public Share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or Target that executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under 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”). The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and 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.
Termination of Proposed Business Combination
On February 1, 2021, the Company entered into
an agreement and plan of merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Fertitta Entertainment, Inc., a Texas corporation (“FEI”),
FAST Merger Corp., a Texas corporation and direct subsidiary of the Company (“FAST Merger Corp.”) and FAST Merger Sub Inc.,
a Texas corporation and direct subsidiary of FAST Merger Corp. (“Merger Sub”). However, on December 9, 2021, the Company entered
into a termination and settlement agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) with FEI, FAST Merger Corp., Merger Sub and the Sponsor,
pursuant to which the parties agreed to mutually terminate the Merger Agreement as of December 9, 2021 and fully and finally resolve all
disputes that have arisen between them relating to FEI’s purported termination of the Merger Agreement. The Settlement Agreement
mutually terminates the Merger Agreement as of December 9, 2021. By virtue of the termination of the Merger Agreement, the PIPE Subscription
Agreements and all other Ancillary Agreements (as defined in the Merger Agreement) terminate in accordance with their terms. The Settlement
Agreement provides for both immediate and deferred payments from FEI to the Company.
F-9
The Settlement Agreement mutually terminates the Merger Agreement as of December 9, 2021. By virtue of the termination of the Merger Agreement, the PIPE Subscription Agreements and all other Ancillary Agreements (as defined in the Merger Agreement) terminate in accordance with their terms.
For additional information regarding the agreements, see the Company’s Form 8-K filed by us on February 1, 2021, July 1, 2021 and December 10, 2021, and FAST Merger Corp.’s registration statement on Form S-4 (as amended), initially filed with the SEC on August 2, 2021, for more information.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Liquidity and Going Concern
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had approximately
$
Based on the foregoing, management believes that the Company will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity to meet its needs through the consummation of a Business Combination. However, in connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB ASC 205-40, “Basis of Presentation - Going Concern,” management has determined that mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The Company intends to complete its initial business combination before the mandatory liquidation date; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to consummate any business combination by August 25, 2022. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after August 25, 2022. The financial statements do not include any adjustment that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.
F-10
Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
The consolidated financial statements of the Company include its wholly owned subsidiary in connection with the planned merger. All inter-company accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income 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 accompanying consolidated 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 derivative liabilities and the Convertible Promissory Note. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
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
Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage limit of $
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 had no cash equivalents outside of funds held in the Trust Account as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.
Investments Held in the Trust Account
The Company’s portfolio of investments held
in the Trust Account is comprised of U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company
Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less, or investments in money market funds that invest in U.S. government securities and generally
have a readily determinable fair value, or a combination thereof. When the Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are comprised
of U.S. government securities, the investments are classified as trading securities. When the Company’s investments held in the
Trust Account are comprised of money market funds, the investments are recognized at fair value. Trading securities and investments in
money market funds are presented on the balance sheets at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from
the change in fair value of these securities is included in income on investments held in the Trust Account in the accompanying consolidated
statement of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in the Trust Account are determined using available market information.
The Company withdrew approximately $
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities which qualify as financial instruments under the FASB ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements,” equal or approximate the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheets.
F-11
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 consist of:
● | Level 1, defined as unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities; | |
● | Level 2, defined as quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs to models are observable (including but not limited to quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit risk), either directly or indirectly; 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.
Settlement Agreement
In addition to settlement proceeds received in December 2021 in connection with the termination of the aforementioned proposed business combination, the Settlement Agreement provides for a further payment to the Company. The payment to the Company will either amount to (i) $10.0 million in the event that the Company consummates an initial business combination, or (ii) $26.0 million if the Company does not consummate an initial business combination and determines to redeem its public shares and liquidate and dissolve. Since the potential payments are contingent upon either event, no gain is recognized with respect to the future payment in the statements of operations as of December 31, 2021.
Derivative Warrant Liabilities
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. The Company evaluates all of its financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and FASB ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”), paragraph 15 Embedded Derivatives (“ASC 815-15”). The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
F-12
The
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
Offering costs consisted of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the Initial Public Offering that were directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs were allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Initial Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities were expensed as incurred and presented as non-operating expenses in the statement of operations. Offering costs associated with the Class A common stock issued were charged against the carrying value of the shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The Company classifies deferred underwriting commissions as non-current liabilities as their liquidation is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.
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 (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair
value. Shares of conditionally redeemable Class A common stock (including Class A common stock that feature redemption rights that are
either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s
control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, shares of Class A common stock are 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 the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2021 and 2020,
Under ASC 480-10-S99, the Company has elected to recognize changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of the Class A common stock subject to possible redemption to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Immediately upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount, which, resulted in charges against additional paid-in capital (to the extent available) and accumulated deficit.
Income Taxes
The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
FASB ASC 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 as income tax expense.
F-13
The Company may be subject to potential examination
by U.S. federal, U.S. state or foreign taxing authorities in the area of income taxes. These potential examinations may include questioning
the timing and amount of deductions, the nexus of income among various tax jurisdictions and compliance with U.S. federal, U.S. state
and foreign tax laws. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially
change over the next
Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share
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 common share is calculated by dividing the net income (loss) by the weighted average shares of common stock outstanding for the respective period.
The Company did not consider the effect of the
warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement to purchase an aggregate of
The following table reflects presents a reconciliation of the numerator and denominator used to compute basic and diluted net loss per share for each class of common stock:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | For the Period From June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Class A | Class B | |||||||||||||
Basic and diluted net loss per common share: | ||||||||||||||||
Numerator: | ||||||||||||||||
Allocation of net loss | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||||
Denominator: | ||||||||||||||||
Basic and diluted weighted average common shares outstanding | ||||||||||||||||
Basic and diluted net loss per common share | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
Recent Issued Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2020-06, Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. The guidance may be early adopted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its financial statements and related disclosures.
The Company’s 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 accompanying consolidated financial statements.
F-14
Note 3 - Initial Public Offering
On August 25, 2020, the Company consummated its
Initial Public Offering of
Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock, and one-half of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).
Note 4 - Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On June 19, 2020, the Sponsor purchased
The initial stockholders agreed, subject to limited
exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion
of the initial Business Combination and (ii) the date following the completion of the initial Business Combination on which the Company
completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders
having the right to exchange their common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of 6,000,000 Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $6.0 million. If the over-allotment option was exercised, the Sponsor could have purchased an additional amount of up to 600,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant. The over-allotment expired unexercised on October 9, 2020.
A certain portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable for cash and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
F-15
Related Party Loans
In order to fund working capital deficiencies
or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the
Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital
Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company may 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. The Working
Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination or, at the lenders’ discretion, up to $
Administrative Services Agreement
The Company agreed that, commencing on the date
that the Company’s securities are first listed on the New York Stock Exchange and continuing until the earlier of the Company’s
consummation of a Business Combination and the Company’s liquidation, the Company will pay the Sponsor a total of $
The Sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on the Company’s behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business Combinations. The Company’s audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to the Sponsor, officers or directors, or their affiliates.
Note 5 - Convertible Promissory Note
In December 2021, the Company issued FEI a note
agreement with a principal value of $
The Company has elected the fair value option to account for the Convertible Promissory Note. The Convertible Promissory Note was initially recognized at fair value. Subsequent changes in fair value are recognized as changes in the fair value of convertible note in the consolidated statements of operations. The fair value is based on prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement (see Note 10, Fair Value Measurements).
Note 6 - Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any (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), are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement. These holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The underwriters were entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, or $4.0 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or $7.0 million in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
F-16
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the 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 these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
In February 2022, the Russian Federation and Belarus commenced a military action with the country of Ukraine. As a result of this action, various nations, including the United States, have instituted economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus. The impact of this action and related sanctions on the world economy are not determinable as of the date of this Report and the specific impact on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows is also not determinable as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Note 7 - Warrants
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company
had
Public Warrants may only be exercised in whole
and only for a whole number of shares. No fractional Public Warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole Public
Warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination
and (b) 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration
statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants
and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or the Company permits holders to exercise their Public Warrants on a cashless
basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act). The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable,
but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of the initial Business Combination, the Company will use its best efforts
to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of
the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed.
If a registration statement covering the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business
day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration
statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on
a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the above,
if the Company’s 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 elect, it will not be required to file or maintain in effect
a registration statement, and in the event the Company does not so elect, it will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares
under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. The Public Warrants will expire
The warrants have an exercise price of $
F-17
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the Sponsor or its 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.
Once the warrants become exercisable,
If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement.
In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any warrant. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
Note 8 - Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company’s Class A common stock feature
certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of future events.
The Company is authorized to issue
The Class A common stock subject to possible redemption reflected on the balance sheet is reconciled on the following table:
Gross proceeds | $ | |||
Less: | ||||
Fair value of Public Warrants at issuance | ( | ) | ||
Offering costs allocated to Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | ( | ) | ||
Plus: | ||||
Accretion of carrying value to redemption value | ||||
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | $ |
F-18
Note 9 - Stockholders’ Deficit
Preferred
Stock - The Company is authorized to issue
Class A Common Stock - The Company
is authorized to issue
Class
B Common Stock - The Company is authorized to issue
Stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of Class A common stock and holders of Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders except as required by law.
The
Class B common stock will automatically convert into Class A common stock at the time of the initial Business Combination on a one-for-one
basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like.
Note 10 - Fair Value Measurements
The following table presents information about the Company’s financial assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 by level within the fair value hierarchy:
December 31, 2021
Description | Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Significant Other Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | |||||||||
Assets: | ||||||||||||
Investments held in Trust Account | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities -Public Warrants | $ | $ | ||||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities -Private Warrants | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Convertible promissory note | $ | - | $ | - | $ |
F-19
December 31, 2020
Description | Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Significant Other Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | |||||||||
Assets: | ||||||||||||
Investments held in Trust Account | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities -Public Warrants | $ | $ | ||||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities -Private Warrants | $ | $ | $ |
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2, and 3 are recognized at the beginning of the reporting period. There were no transfers between levels in the year ended December 31, 2021.
The fair value of the Public Warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering and Private Placement Warrants were initially measured at fair value using a Monte Carlo simulation model and subsequently, the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants have been estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation model each measurement date. The fair value of Public Warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering have subsequently been measured based on the listed market price of such warrants.
The fair value of the convertible note was initially and subsequently measured at fair value using a 250- step Binomial Lattice model.
For
the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company recognized charges from an increase in the fair value of convertible note and the derivative
warrant liabilities of approximately $
For
the period ended December 31, 2020, the Company recognized a charge to the statement of operations resulting from an increase in the
fair value of liabilities of approximately $
The following table provides quantitative information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements inputs at their measurement dates:
As of December 31, 2021 | As of December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Stock Price | $ | $ | ||||||
SPAC Volatility | % | % | ||||||
Expected life of the options to convert | ||||||||
Risk-free rate | % | % | ||||||
Dividend yield | % | % |
Convertible Promissory Note
The estimated fair value of the Convertible Promissory Note was estimated utilizing a 250-step Binomial Lattice model with Level 3 inputs.
F-20
The following table provides quantitative information regarding the inputs for the fair value measurement of the Convertible Promissory Note as of their measurement dates:
As of December 14, 2021 | As of December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Exercise price | $ | $ | ||||||
Stock price | $ | $ | ||||||
Volatility | % | % | ||||||
Expected term | ||||||||
Risk-free interest rate | % | % |
The change in the fair value of the derivative warrant liabilities measured with Level 3 inputs for the periods ended December 31, 2021, is summarized as follows:
Warrant liabilities at January 1, 2021 - Level 3 measurements | $ | |||
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities - Level 3 measurements | ||||
Warrant liabilities at December 31, 2021 - Level 3 measurements | $ |
The change in the fair value of the convertible note measured with Level 3 inputs for year ended December 31, 2021 is summarized as follows:
Fair Value at January 1, 2021 | $ | |||
Initial value of convertible promissory note at December 14, 2021 | ||||
Change in fair value of convertible promissory note | ||||
Fair Value of convertible promissory note at December 31, 2021 | $ |
Note 11 — Income Taxes
The
Company’s taxable income primarily consists of interest income on the Trust Account. The Company’s general and administrative
expenses are generally considered start-up costs and are not currently deductible. For the year ended December 31, 2021, $
The income tax provision (benefit) consists of the following for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | For the Period From June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Current | ||||||||
Federal | $ | $ | - | |||||
State | ||||||||
Deferred | ||||||||
Federal | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
State | ||||||||
Change in Valuation allowance | ||||||||
Income tax provision (Benefit) | $ | $ |
F-21
The Company’s net deferred tax assets are as follows:
December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Deferred tax assets: | ||||||||
Start-up/Organization costs | $ | $ | ||||||
Net operating loss carryforwards | ||||||||
Total deferred tax assets | ||||||||
Valuation allowance | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Deferred tax asset, net of allowance | $ | $ |
In assessing the realization of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or 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 assets, 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.
A reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate (benefit) to the Company’s effective tax rate at December 31, 2021 and 2020 is as follows:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | For the Period From June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Statutory Federal income tax rate | % | % | ||||||
Meals & entertainment (50%) | ( | % | % | |||||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | ( | % | ( | % | ||||
Change in fair value of convertible promissory note | ( | % | % | |||||
Gain on settlement agreement | ( | % | % | |||||
Financing costs | - | % | ( | )% | ||||
Change in Valuation Allowance | ( | % | ( | % | ||||
Income tax rate (benefit) | ( | )% | - | % |
There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.
Note 12 — Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company determined that there have been no events that have occurred that would require adjustments to the disclosures in the financial statements.
F-22
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 are procedures that 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 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. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective as of December 31, 2021 because of a material weakness in our internal control 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 the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, the Company’s management has concluded that our control around the interpretation and accounting for certain complex financial instruments was not effectively designed or maintained. This material weakness resulted in the misstatement of the Company’s audited balance sheet as of August 25, 2020 and its interim financial statements and Notes as reported in its SEC filings for the quarters ended September 30, 2020, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021. In light of this material weakness, 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 periods presented.
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.
46
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15- d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
(1) | pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company, |
(2) | provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and |
(3) | provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. |
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2021. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, management determined that we maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021. Subsequently, our management has concluded that internal controls over financial reporting were not effective as of December 31, 2021, because of a material weakness in our internal control 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 the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, the Company’s management has concluded that our control around the interpretation and accounting for certain complex features of the Class A common stock and warrants issued by the Company was not effectively designed or maintained. This material weakness resulted in the restatement of the Company’s balance sheet as of August 25, 2020, its financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2021 and its interim financial statements for the quarters ended September 30, 2020, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021.
Notwithstanding this material weakness, management has concluded that our audited financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are fairly stated in all material respects in accordance with GAAP for each of the periods presented therein.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of internal controls from our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
During the most recently completed fiscal quarter, there has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting, except for the below.
The Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer performed additional accounting and financial analyses and other post-closing procedures including consulting with subject matter experts related to the accounting for certain complex features of the Class A common stock and warrants. The Company’s management has expended, and will continue to expend, a substantial amount of effort and resources for the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to properly identify and evaluate the appropriate accounting technical pronouncements and other literature for all significant or unusual transactions, we have expanded and will continue to improve these processes to ensure that the nuances of such transactions are effectively evaluated in the context of the increasingly complex accounting standards.
Item 9B. Other Information
None.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
Not applicable.
47
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Directors and Executive Officers
Our officers and directors are as follows:
NAME | AGE | POSITION | ||
Sandy Beall | 70 | Chief Executive Officer and Director | ||
Garrett Schreiber | 30 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
Todd Higgins | 48 | Chief Operating Officer | ||
Kimberly Grant | 49 | Chief Strategy Officer | ||
Kevin Reddy | 62 | Chairman | ||
Ramin Arani | 50 | Director | ||
Sanjay Chadda | 44 | Director | ||
Alice Elliot | 64 | Director | ||
Steve Kassin | 35 | Director | ||
Michael Lastoria | 40 | Director |
Sandy Beall is a restauranteur and hospitality founder, investor, operator and executive with a dynamic background that spans nearly six decades, dozens of highly successful concepts, and serving as the Chief Executive Officer of a public company for over 25 years. Mr. Beall founded Ruby Tuesday while in college in 1971, growing the concept to 15 units and ultimately selling it to Morrison Inc. in 1982. Post-acquisition, he remained the President and Chief Operating Officer of Ruby Tuesday, ultimately working his way up the organization to becoming Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morrison Inc. by 1995. In 1994, he was named Operator of the Year, won the Golden Chain Award from MUFSO, and was named Executive of the Year by Restaurants & Institutions. Under Mr. Beall’s recommendation and guidance, he oversaw the split of Morrison into three public companies, including Ruby Tuesday, Sodexo, and Morrison Health Care. Mr. Beall remained as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ruby Tuesday, overseeing an operation that had grown to 800+ locations in 46 states, 14 foreign countries and approximately 30,000 employees when he retired from the company. Mr. Beall also co-founded Blackberry Farm in 1975, steadily growing it with his family over the following five decades into one of the premier luxury resorts in the world. It has been recognized by Relais & Chateaux since 1994, as well as named to the Conde Nast Traveler Gold List, Wine Spectator Grand Award, the James Beard Foundation, as well as a number of other highly regarded awards and by industry groups. Mr. Beall is an investor and board member of a number of high-growth restaurant and consumer brands, including &pizza, The Meatball Shop, Mexicue, Beyond Sushi and Chow Daddy’s. He is also the Principal of Beall Investments LLC, an investment company.
Garrett Schreiber joined RBC Capital Markets in 2012 and left in September 2014 to join Enhanced Capital, a portfolio company of Stone Point Capital, where he raised two tax-credit capitalized investment funds and a SBIC fund. Mr. Schreiber worked on fundraising, underwriting, and reporting efforts both to the limited partners and to government regulators. Mr. Schreiber left Enhanced Capital in May 2017, and in June 2018, he helped launch &vest, overseeing all investment, fundraising, and creative agency operations. Mr. Schreiber received an MBA from MIT Sloan and a BSBA from Washington University.
Todd Higgins is a co-founder of Crosby & Higgins LLP, a boutique corporate law firm in New York. Since founding the firm in 2005, Mr. Higgins has guided hundreds of businesses, boards and senior executives, integrating with management teams to provide thought leadership and strategic counsel from start-up to exit. Mr. Higgins has served as corporate counsel for companies like VistaGen Therapeutics, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, Empire Resources, a publicly traded distributor, Tradesy, a luxury online fashion resale market, and &pizza. Mr. Higgins has worked with private equity funds and directly with businesses like &pizza, Magnolia Bakery, Catch Hospitality, Chesapeake Hospitality, Orwasher’s Bakery, Outstanding Foods, and Ideal Snacks. Mr. Higgins has also co-founded and led numerous companies, including Clear Sight Analytics from January 2017 to the present, and served as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of CoKinetic Systems Corp., a systems integration and interface technology company incubated with Deutsche Bank, from November 2006 to July 2007 and from August 2007 to December 2019, respectively. Most recently, in April 2020 he co-founded Vent Multiplexor, where he is leading an emergency effort, in collaboration with Yale New Haven Hospital, to bring to market a patent-pending device for dual-patient ventilation Mr. Higgins co-invented, which has recently secured emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Higgins received a JD from Fordham University School of Law and a BA from Queens College.
48
Kimberly Grant is a chief executive and public company director with over 25 years of hospitality industry experience leading and scaling restaurant companies. From January 2014 to April 2020, Ms. Grant served as Chief Executive Officer of TFG, a global hospitality company which owns and operates unique dining concepts created by Chef José Andrés, including concepts in the fast casual, polished casual, food hall, and fine dining sectors. Prior to serving as Chief Executive Officer of TFG, Ms. Grant established a strong record of operations and finance at Ruby Tuesday. She served as Vice President and Controller for the company after its spin-off as an independent public company from 1998 to 2002, and then Senior Vice President, Executive Vice President, President and Chief Operating Officer from 2002 to 2013, where she was responsible for a profits & loss statement with revenues exceeding $1.3 billion each year from 2004 to 2013. Since 2017, Ms. Grant has served on the board of Performance Food Group, a publicly traded, $20+ billion revenue, food product distribution company, where she is a member of the audit, nomination, and governance committees. In 2019 and 2020, Ms. Grant was recognized by Nation’s Restaurant News’ “The Power List.” Ms. Grant received a Master of Science and Financial Services Management and a BS from Boston University.
Kevin Reddy has served in a variety of operational and executive roles. He began his career with McDonald’s Corporation in 1983 as a regional controller and progressed into positions of escalating responsibility. Following McDonald’s investment in Chipotle in 1998, Mr. Reddy served as Restaurant Support Officer, Chief Operations Officer, and ultimately Chief Operating Officer for Chipotle, overseeing its growth from just 13 units to 420 units in seven years. In April 2005, Mr. Reddy joined Noodles & Company as President and Chief Operating Officer. In 2006, he was named Chief Executive Officer, becoming a member of its board of directors and then Chairman in 2008. He left his position as CEO in July 2016. Since August 2016, Mr. Reddy has been self-employed as an advisor and works closely with investor groups to acquire premium brands in the hospitality sector. Recently, he worked with BDT Capital to acquire a majority stake in Whataburger, a Texas-based burger chain with nearly 900 locations. He is also Chairman of the Board of &pizza and Qdoba Mexican Grill. Mr. Reddy received a BS from Duquesne University.
Ramin Arani serves on our board of directors as an independent director. Mr. Arani is the CFO of Vice Media, with decades of experience in fund management and financial operations. Ramin was appointed as the CFO in November 2019. Previously, Mr. Arani worked at Fidelity Management & Research Company, where he was an Analyst & Sector Fund Manager from July 1992 to May 2000 and a Portfolio Manager from May 2000 to September 2018. Most recently, he managed the Fidelity Puritan Fund, achieving top 5% performance relative to industry peers. His financial experience spans a variety of sectors, including media, technology, health care, real estate, retail, aerospace and defense. Mr. Arani has served on several company boards, including Legendary Pictures, Rent the Runway, Goop, Rumble Boxing and Sakara Life. Mr. Arani holds a BA from Tufts University.
Sanjay Chadda serves on our board of directors as an independent director. Sanjay is the Co-Head of U.S. Investment Banking and Co-Head of U.S. Technology, Media, Marketing and Information Services Investment Banking at Canaccord Genuity, which focuses on the broader media, digital advertising and marketing, commerce, information and marketing technology and services industries. Sanjay was a Partner and Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity since December 1999 before becoming the Co-Head of U.S. Investment Banking and Co-Head of U.S. Technology, Media, Marketing and Information Services Investment Banking in February 2019. From May 1998 to December 1999, Sanjay was a Financial Analyst at GE Capital. Sanjay has led more than 125 transactions during his career and has successfully completed over 50 transactions since the beginning of 2014 alone. He joined Canaccord Genuity through its acquisition of Petsky Prunier in 2019. He focuses on origination, due diligence, marketing, management, and negotiation of both M&A and private placement transactions. Sanjay received a BS from the Charles F. Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University.
Alice Elliot serves on our board of directors as an independent director. Ms. Elliot is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Elliot Group, a widely respected executive recruitment agency in the restaurant and hospitality industry, where she has worked since February 1988. Nationally recognized as one of the leading advisors in executive search, human resources, and leadership, Ms. Elliot has been featured in QSR Magazine’s “20 Most Influential Restaurant Leaders,” Nation’s Restaurant News’ “50 Most Powerful People in Foodservice,” and on “CBS This Morning Saturday.” She has also been a featured speaker on Bloomberg Radio, focusing on business trends and innovation. In addition, Ms. Elliot has spoken at many industry highlights and is the recipient of several awards, including the coveted Women’s Foodservice Forum “Trailblazer” award, and the prestigious Roundtable for Women in Foodservice “Pacesetter Award.” She sits on the Board of Trustees of The Culinary Institute of America and was inducted into the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s “College of Diplomates” in 2010 for her tireless work in bringing public awareness to the hospitality industry. She received a BA. from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
49
Steve Kassin serves on our board of directors as an independent director. Steve Kassin is the Founder and currently the Managing Partner of Infinity Real Estate, a privately owned developer, owner, and manager of high quality real estate headquartered in New York City. Mr. Kassin founded Infinity Real Estate in August 2005. Under Mr. Kassin’s leadership, Infinity has acquired or developed commercial property representing over $1.5 billion in direct investment transactions across more than 75 projects. During Mr. Kassin’s tenure, Infinity has honed its expertise in the urban multi-family, lodging and retail sectors. His management and growth initiatives have transformed Infinity Real Estate into a national real estate investment company. In October 2015, Steve was named “Fifty Under 40” in Globe Street’s Real Estate Forum publication. He is also an active participant on various industry panels and guest lectures at NYU Stern School of Business and at other educational institutions. Steve currently serves as a NYU Stern Real Estate Advisory Board Member, NYU Alumni Council Chair, NAIOP Advisory Board Member, ICSC Next Gen. Committee Member, Exec. Board Member, and a PREF Co-Founder. Mr. Kassin received a BS from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Michael Lastoria serves on our board of directors as an independent director. Mr. Lastoria is a dynamic entrepreneur with a track record of founding, scaling and exiting a variety of businesses. In 2002, at the age of 22, Mr. Lastoria founded his first company, Innovation Ads, an advertising, technology and marketing services firm, as his first job out of college in New York City. In four years, as Founding Chief Executive Officer, he oversaw the rapid growth of the company and its sale to Seaport Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, in 2006. Lastoria remained the company’s Chief Executive Officer from 2006 to 2009. In October 2012, Mr. Lastoria co-founded & pizza, where he currently serves as Chief Executive Officer. At &pizza, Mr. Lastoria has raised over $80 million of investment capital and has expanded the purpose-driven chain to 38 locations in six markets. In addition to & pizza, Mr. Lastoria cofounded JWALK in 2010, which sold to beauty powerhouse Sheiseido in 2017. Mr. Lastoria is a recognized startup leader and vocal advocate in the fight to raise minimum wage to $15.00 an hour, believing that every employee should not only survive, but thrive. He speaks regularly on the value of design thinking, innovation and entrepreneurship. Mr. Lastoria was listed in QSR’s 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards as a Most Admired Fast-Casual Leader, on Nation’s Restaurant News’ Annual Power List in 2018 and 2019 and on Fast Casual’s Movers and Shakers List in 2018 and 2019. Mr. Lastoria was named one of the Washington Business Journal’s “40 Under 40.” In 2017, he was awarded the Mort Harris Small Business person of the year by the Small Business Council of America. Michael Lastoria graduated with a B.A. in Economics and Business from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
We have seven directors. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, FAST is not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after its first fiscal year end following its listing on the NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Sanjay Chadda, Alice Elliot and Steve Kassin, will expire at FAST’s first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Kevin Reddy and Ramin Arani, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Sandy Beall and Michael Lastoria, will expire at the third annual meeting of stockholders.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our bylaws.
50
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 rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and the rules of the NYSE require that the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Sanjay Chadda, Alice Elliot and Ramin Arani serve as members of our audit committee, and Mr. Arani chairs the audit committee. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent. Each of Sanjay Chadda, Alice Elliot and Ramin Arani meet the independent director standard under the NYSE listing standards and under Rule 10-A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Ramin Arani 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 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 policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; |
● | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
● | reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of the board of directors. Sanjay Chadda, Alice Elliot and Ramin Arani serve as members of our compensation committee. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent. Sanjay Chadda, Alice Elliot and Ramin Arani are independent and Alice Elliot chairs the compensation committee.
51
We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officer’s compensation, evaluating our chief executive officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our chief executive officer based on such evaluation; |
● | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
● | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
● | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
● | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the payment to an affiliate of the Sponsor of $15,000 per month, until August 25, 2022, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
We have established a nominating and corporate governance committee of the board of directors. The members of our nominating and corporate governance are Sanjay Chadda, Alice Elliot and Ramin Arani, and Sanjay Chadda serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the principal functions 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, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of stockholders or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
52
● | developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
● | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
● | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct Ethics that applies to all of our directors, executive officers and employees that complies with the rules and regulations of the NYSE. The Code of Business Conduct Ethics codifies the business and ethical principles that govern all aspects of our business. We have previously filed copies of our form of Code of Business Conduct Ethics, our form of Audit Committee Charter, our form of Compensation Committee Charter and our form of Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter as exhibits to our registration statement in connection with our initial public offering. You may review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request to us in writing at 109 Old Branchville Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877 or by telephone at (201) 956-1969.
Conflicts of Interest
Members of our management team do not have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, unless presented to such member solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Our officers and directors have agreed not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act, until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination by August 25, 2022. Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
● | None of our officers or directors is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities. |
53
● | In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. |
● | Our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and private placement shares and any 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 rights with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination by August 25, 2022. 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 (and the underlying securities) will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable by the Sponsor until the earlier of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants, private placement shares and private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or saleable by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since the Sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following our initial public offering, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. |
● | Our 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. |
● | The Sponsor, our officers or directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a business combination and financing arrangements as we may obtain loans from the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or any of our officers or directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such working capital loans may be convertible into private placement-equivalent warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such units would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. |
The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.
In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:
● | the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity; |
● | the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and |
● | it would not be fair to our company and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation. |
54
Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:2
Individual | Entity | Entity’s Business | Affiliation | |||
Sandy Beall | Beall Investments LLC | Family Investment Company | Principal | |||
Blackberry Hotel Company | Hotel Operator | Board Director | ||||
Windstream | Telephone Service Company | Board Director | ||||
&pizza | Mid-Atlantic Pizza Chain | Board Director | ||||
The Meatball Shop | Italian Restaurant | Board Director | ||||
Mexicue | Mexican Restaurant | Board Director | ||||
Beyond Sushi | Vegan Restaurant | Board Director | ||||
Custom Foods of America | Food Products | Board Director | ||||
Rigor Hill Hospitality Group LLC | Hospitality Group | Board Director | ||||
Garrett Schreiber | &vest | Investment Fund | Partner | |||
Todd Higgins | Crosby & Higgins LLP | Boutique Corporate Law Firm | Managing Partner | |||
Clear Sight Analytics LLC | Sports Analytics Firm | Chief Operating Officer | ||||
Vent Multiplexor LLC | Medical Device Company for Co-Ventilation | President | ||||
Kimberly Grant | Performance Food Group | Distributor – Consumer Staples | Board Director | |||
Yardbird Group, LLC | Restaurant Group | Manager | ||||
Rogue Wave Investments LLC | Investments | Principal and Sole Member | ||||
Kevin Reddy | &pizza | American Fast-Casual Restaurant | Chairman | |||
Qdoba Mexican Grill | American Fast-Casual Restaurant | Chairman | ||||
Whataburger | Consultant & Board Observer | |||||
Ramin Arani | Vice Media | Canadian-American Print Magazine | Chief Financial Officer | |||
Brunello Cucinelli | Luxury Fashion | Board Director | ||||
LiveXLive | Digital Media | Board Director | ||||
Sanjay Chadda | Canaccord Genuity | Financial Services | Co-Head of Investment Banking | |||
Alice Elliot | The Elliot Group | Executive Search and Consulting | Chief Executive Officer | |||
Steve Kassin | International Council of Shopping Centers Next Gen | International Shopping Centers Council | Committee Member & Executive Board Member | |||
Professionals in Real Estate Forum | Commercial Real Estate Publication | Co-Founder | ||||
Infinity Real Estate LLC | Real Estate and Investments | Managing Partner | ||||
Michael Lastoria | &pizza | American Fast-Casual Restaurant | Chief Executive Officer |
55
Accordingly, if any of the above executive officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the above entities to which he or she has current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with the Sponsor, our officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with such a company, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, pursuant to the letter agreement, the Sponsor, our officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares or private placement shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after the offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Our amended and restated 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 amended and restated 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, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived an improper personal benefit from their actions as directors.
We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also will permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We will purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
None of our executive officers or directors has received any cash compensation for services rendered. We will reimburse an affiliate of the Sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team in an amount not to exceed $15,000 per month in the event such space and/or services are utilized and we do not pay directly for such services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease making these payments. In addition, the Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to the Sponsor, our officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to the Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
56
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements with the post-transaction company after our initial business combination. Any such arrangements will be disclosed in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination, to the extent they are known at such time.
The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business, but we do not believe that such arrangements will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March 31, 2022 by:
● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock; |
● | each of our executive officers and directors; and |
● | all our executive officers and directors as a group. |
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The beneficial ownership of our common stock is based on 20,000,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2022, consisting of 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and 5,000,000 shares of Class B common stock.
NAME AND ADDRESS OF BENEFICIAL OWNER(1) | NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED(2) | APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE OF OUTSTANDING COMMON STOCK | ||||||
Directors, Executive Officers and Founders | ||||||||
FAST Sponsor, LLC (3) | 5,000,000 | 20.0 | % | |||||
Sandy Beall | - | - | ||||||
Garrett Schreiber | - | - | ||||||
Todd Higgins | - | - | ||||||
Kimberly Grant | - | - | ||||||
Kevin Reddy | - | - | ||||||
Ramin Arani | - | - | ||||||
Sanjay Chadda | - | - | ||||||
Alice Elliot | - | - | ||||||
Steve Kassin | - | - | ||||||
Michael Lastoria | - | - | ||||||
All executive officers and directors as a group (ten individuals) | 5,000,000 | 20.0 | % |
57
NAME AND ADDRESS OF BENEFICIAL OWNER | NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED | APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE OF OUTSTANDING COMMON STOCK | ||||||
Five Percent Holders | ||||||||
Sculptor(4) | 1,502,536 | 7.51 | % | |||||
Chatham(5) | 2,850,264 | 14.25 | % | |||||
Marshall Wace(6) | 1,500,000 | 7.5 | % |
(1) | The business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o FAST Acquisition Corp., 109 Old Branchville Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877. |
(2) | Interests shown consist of founder shares, classified as shares of Class B common stock. The founder shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. |
(3) | Represents shares held by FAST Sponsor, LLC, the Sponsor. Each of FAST’s current officers and directors are among the members of the Sponsor, and Doug Jacob is the sole manager of the Sponsor. Mr. Jacob has sole voting and dispositive power over the securities held directly by the Sponsor. Each such person disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may have therein, directly or indirectly. |
(4) | According to a Schedule 13G/A filed on February 11, 2022 on behalf of Sculptor Capital LP (“Sculptor Capital”), Sculptor Capital Holding Corp. (“SCHC”), Sculptor Capital Management, Inc. (“SCU”), Sculptor Master Fund, Ltd. (“SCMF”) and Sculptor Special Funding, LP (“NRMD,” and collectively, “Sculptor”). Sculptor shares beneficial ownership of the shares reported. The business address of Sculptor Capital, SCHC and SCU is 9 West 57 Street, 39 Floor, New York, NY 10019. The business address of SCMF and NRMD is c/o State Street (Cayman) Trust, Limited, P.O. Box 896, Suite 3307, Gardenia Court, 45 Market Street, Camana Bay, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands KY1-1103. |
(5) | According to a Schedule 13G/A filed on February 17, 2022 on behalf of Chatham Asset Management, LLC (“CAM”), a Delaware limited liability company and the investment manager to (a) Chatham Asset High Yield Master Fund, Ltd. (“Chatham Master Fund”), a Cayman Islands exempted company and (b) other affiliated funds (collectively with Chatham Master Fund, the “Chatham Funds”), (ii) Chatham Master Fund; and (iii) Anthony Melchiorre (“Mr. Melchiorre” and, collectively with CAM and Chatham Master Fund, “Chatham”). Chatham shares beneficial ownership of the shares reported. The business address of Chatham is 26 Main Street, Suite 204, Chatham, New Jersey 07928. |
(6) | According to a Schedule 13G/A filed on February 14, 2022 on behalf of Marshall Wace LLP, a limited liability partnership formed in England (“Marshall Wace”). Marshall Wace shares beneficial ownership of the shares reported. The business address of Marshall Wace is George House, 131 Sloane Street, London, SW1X 9AT, UK. |
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
Founder Shares
On June 4, 2020, our sponsor purchased 7,187,500 founder shares for an aggregate price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. On August 4, 2020, our sponsor surrendered 1,437,500 founder shares to us for cancellation for no consideration.
The founder shares included an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment was not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor would own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the initial public offering (assuming the Sponsor did not purchase any public shares in the initial public offering and excluding the private placement shares). On October 9, 2020, the underwriters’ over-allotment option expired unexercised, and, as a result 750,000 founder shares were forfeited resulting in an aggregate of 5,000,000 founder shares outstanding.
The Sponsor has agreed, subject to certain limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of its founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of a business combination or (B) subsequent to a business combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a business combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
58
Related Party Loans
On June 4, 2020, we issued an unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor (the “Promissory Note”), pursuant to which we could borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The Promissory Note was non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of June 4, 2021 or the completion of the initial public offering. The Promissory Note was repaid upon the consummation of the initial public offering on August 25, 2020.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If we complete a business combination, we would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that a business combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the trust account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the trust account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a business combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
Administrative Services Agreement
We entered into an agreement with an affiliate of the Sponsor whereby, commencing on August 5, 2020 through the earlier of the consummation of a business combination and our liquidation, we agreed to pay the affiliate $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support.
We recognized an aggregate of $180,000 and $60,000 in expenses incurred in connection with the aforementioned arrangements with the related parties on our Statement of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, respectively.
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services
The firm of WithumSmith+Brown, PC, or Withum, acts as our independent registered public accounting firm. The following is a summary of fees paid to Withum 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 Withum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by WithumSmith+Brown, PC for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) to December 31, 2020, and of services rendered in connection with our initial public offering, totaled $138,285 and $81,885, respectively.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our year-end financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultation concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. During the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) to December 31, 2020, we paid WithumSmith+Brown, PC $7,159 and $0 audit-related fees, respectively.
Tax Fees. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. During the year ended December 31, 2021 and period from June 4, 2020 (inception) to December 31, 2020, we paid WithumSmith+Brown, PC $7,159 and $0 tax fees, respectively.
All Other Fees. All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. During the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from June 4, 2020 (inception) to December 31, 2020, we did not pay WithumSmith+Brown, PC any other fees.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our initial public offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
59
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
(a) | The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K: |
1. | Financial Statements: See “Index to Financial Statements” at “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” herein. |
(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 Exhibit Index below are filed or incorporated by reference as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. |
Exhibit Index
60
* | Incorporated by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on March 26, 2021. |
† | Certain of the exhibits and schedules to this Exhibit have been omitted in accordance with Regulation S-K Item 601(a)(5). The Registrant agrees to furnish a copy of all omitted exhibits and schedules to the SEC upon its request. |
61
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Date: March 31, 2022 |
FAST ACQUISITION CORP. | ||
By: | /s/ Sandy Beall | ||
Name: | Sandy Beall | ||
Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Sandy Beall and Garrett Schreiber, and each or any one of them, his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, or his or her substitutes or substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
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 registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
/s/ Sandy Beall | Chief Executive Officer | March 31, 2022 | ||
Sandy Beall | (principal executive officer) | |||
/s/ Garrett Schreiber | Chief Financial Officer | March 31, 2022 | ||
Garrett Schreiber | (principal financial and accounting officer) | |||
/s/ Kevin Reddy | Chairman | March 31, 2022 | ||
Kevin Reddy | ||||
/s/ Ramin Arani | Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
Ramin Arani | ||||
/s/ Sanjay Chadda | Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
Sanjay Chadda | ||||
/s/ Alice Elliot | Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
Alice Elliot | ||||
/s/ Steve Kassin | Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
Steve Kassin | ||||
/s/ Michael Lastoria | Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
Michael Lastoria |
62