SEC Form 10-K filed by Omnichannel Acquisition Corp.
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
For the fiscal year ended
OR
FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM __________ TO __________
COMMISSION FILE NUMBER
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) | |
| ||
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Not applicable
(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)
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 | OCA.U | New York Stock Exchange | ||
$0.0001 per share | ||||
Redeemable Warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one share of Class A common stock, each at an exercise price of $11.50 per share | OCA.WS | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if
the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark if
the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark whether
the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has
been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate by check mark whether
the registrant (1) has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T
during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and has been subject
to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer ☐ | Accelerated filer ☐ | Smaller reporting company | |
Emerging growth company |
If an emerging growth company,
indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial
accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Indicate by check mark whether
the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control
over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that
prepared or issued its audit report.
Indicate by check mark whether
the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes
The aggregate market value
of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, computed as of June 30, 2021 (the last business day of the registrant’s
most recently completed second fiscal quarter) was approximately: $
As of March 25, 2022, the
Registrant had
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this report 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 report may include, for example, statements about:
● | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
● | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
● | our 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; |
● | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; |
● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
● | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
● | the lack of a market for our securities; |
● | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
● | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
● | our financial performance following our Public Offering. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors”. 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.
Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
● | We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
● | Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination. |
● | Your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash. |
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● | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote. |
● | The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target. |
● | The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
● | The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of the Public Offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders. |
● | Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and other events and the status of debt and equity markets. |
● | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities. |
● | If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for submitting or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed. |
● | You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss. |
● | The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions. |
● | You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
● | Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
● | If the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 18 months following the Public Offering, it could limit the amount of cash 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, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company. |
● | Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial stockholders will receive additional shares of Class A common stock if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination. |
● | We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on stockholders or warrant holders. |
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PART I
References in this report to “we,” “us” or the “Company” refer to Omnichannel Acquisition Corp. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, and references to the “sponsor” refer to Omnichannel Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS.
Introduction
We are a blank check company incorporated on September 9, 2020 as a Delaware corporation formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have 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 Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) because we have no operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash.
On November 24, 2020, we consummated our initial public offering (“Public Offering”) of 20,000,000 units. Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. On November 30, 2020, in connection with the partial exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option (the “Over-Allotment”), the underwriters purchased an additional 650,000 units. The units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds, before expenses, of $206,500,000. Prior to the consummation of the Public Offering, on September 30, 2020, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 10,062,500 shares of Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”) for $25,000, or $0.0025 per share. On November 13, 2020, our sponsor surrendered 2,875,000 Founder Shares for no consideration. On November 19, 2020, Sponsor surrendered an additional 1,437,500 Founder Shares for no consideration. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the Sponsor, the Company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of Founder Shares outstanding was determined based on the Company’s expectation that the total size of the Public Offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised in full, and therefore that such Founder Shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the Public Offering.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering, pursuant to the Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement, the Company completed the private sale of an aggregate of 6,000,000 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) to our sponsor at a purchase price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $6,000,000. On November 30, 2020, in connection with the Over-Allotment, our sponsor purchased an additional 130,000 Private Placement Warrants, generating additional proceeds of $130,000. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Warrants sold in the Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants, so long as they are held by Sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) are not redeemable by the Company, (ii) may not (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such Private Placement Warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by such holders until 30 days after the completion of the Company’s initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sale. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by holders other than Sponsor or its permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the Warrants included in the Units sold in the Public Offering. If the Company does not consummate its initial business combination within 18 months from the closing the Public Offering, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The issuance of the Private Placement Warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Upon the closing of the Public Offering, the Private Placement and the Over-Allotment, $206,500,000 was placed in a trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee (the “Trust Account”). Except for the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes, if any, and to fund our working capital requirements (subject to an annual limit of $100,000), our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Charter”) provides that none of the funds held in trust will be released from the Trust Account until the earlier of (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any of the shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units sold in our Public Offering (“public shares”) properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Charter to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of the public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) the redemption of 100% of the public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Public Offering. 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 of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.
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After the payment of underwriting discounts and commissions (excluding the deferred portion of $7,227,500 in underwriting discounts and commissions, which amount will be payable upon consummation of our initial business combination if consummated) and approximately $600,000 in expenses relating to the Public Offering, approximately $200,000,000 of the net proceeds of the Public Offering and Private Placement was not deposited into the Trust Account and was retained by us for working capital purposes. The net proceeds deposited into the Trust Account remain on deposit in the Trust Account earning interest. As of December 31, 2021, there was $206,554,632 in investments and cash held in the Trust Account and $135,734 of cash held outside the Trust Account available for working capital purposes. As of December 31, 2021, $24,928 had been withdrawn from the Trust Account to pay the Company’s income taxes.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
General
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation for the purpose of effecting a merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. While we may pursue an initial business combination with a company in any sector or geography, we intend to focus our search on “omnichannel” businesses — technology-enabled cross-channel retail and consumer services — including the direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) / e-commerce retail, consumer healthcare, consumer marketplaces, consumer services and related sectors in North America with enterprise values from $1 billion to $2.5 billion.
Selection of Target Businesses
We seek to capitalize on the extensive experience of our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Matt Higgins, a leading omnichannel expert with broad experience as a founder, investor and acquirer of consumer companies at all growth stages. As both an investor and an operator, Mr. Higgins has extensive exposure to industry and acquisition trends, evaluating dozens of concepts of a variety of sizes every year, and possesses a vast network of relationships, with access to highly sought-after industry subject matter experts. Collectively, our leadership team, board of directors and advisors have decades of experience as executives, growing omnichannel consumer, retail and technology concepts from infancy to scale, and managing such companies as public companies. To thrive in this era of accelerated adoption of e-commerce and disruption of retail, brick and mortar legacy consumer businesses need to evolve into true omnichannel offerings, capable of serving customers wherever and whenever they prefer to transact. Conversely, digitally native brands that seek to scale will still require physical retail touchpoints where consumers can interact with and experience the brand. Underpinning this massive shift is a concomitant change in consumer preferences favoring mission-driven brands. Consumers increasingly expect their favorite brands to take a stand, directing their spending to the brands that align most with their own values.
Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. 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 of common stock subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses even if the acquisitions of the target businesses are not closed simultaneously.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspections of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
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The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. We will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination.
Redemption Rights for Holders of Public Shares Upon Consummation of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares they may hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Conduct of Redemptions Pursuant to Tender Offer Rules
If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated articles of incorporation: (a) conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E under the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and (b) file tender offer documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“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 under the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
Submission of Our Initial Business Combination to a Stockholder Vote
If 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 initial 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 voted are voted in favor of the business combination. Our initial stockholders, Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their Founder Shares and any public shares purchased during or after the Public Offering in favor of our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our initial stockholders, Sponsor, 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 their Founder Shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or 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 New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the Trust Account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. 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. If our Sponsor, directors, 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. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or 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.
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Limitation on Redemption Rights Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Stockholder Approval
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined in Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to excess shares without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force the Company or management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the Public Offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in the Public Offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including excess shares) for or against the Company’s 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 only 18 months from the closing of the Public Offering to consummate our initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within such 18-month 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the 18-month time period.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Employees
We currently have three executive officers: Matt Higgins, Christine Pantoya and Austin Simon. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Available 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 (e.g., changes in corporate control, acquisitions or dispositions of a significant amount of assets other than in the ordinary course of business and bankruptcy) 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 http://www.sec.gov. In addition, the Company will provide copies of these documents without charge upon request from us in writing at First Floor West, 51 John F. Kennedy Parkway, Millburn, NJ 07078 or by telephone at (908) 271-6641.
Business Combination Agreement with Kin Insurance, Inc.
On July 19, 2021, the Company entered into a business combination agreement with Omnichannel Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”), and Kin Insurance, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Kin”) (the “Kin Business Combination Agreement”).
Termination of Business Combination Agreement
On January 26, 2022, the Company, Merger Sub and Kin entered into a Termination of Business Combination Agreement (the “Termination Agreement”), pursuant to which the parties agreed to mutually terminate the Kin Business Combination Agreement. The termination of the Kin Business Combination Agreement is effective as of January 26, 2022.
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As a result of the termination of the Kin Business Combination Agreement, the Kin Business Combination Agreement is void and there is no liability under the Kin Business Combination Agreement on the part of any party thereto, except as set forth in the Termination Agreement and each of the transaction agreements entered into in connection with the Kin Business Combination Agreement insofar as a transaction agreement creates any obligation surviving the termination of Kin Business Combination Agreement to a third party not signatory to the Termination Agreement, including, but not limited to, the Sponsor Agreement, dated as of July 19, 2021, by and among the Sponsor, Kin and certain of the Sponsor’s equity holders. Pursuant to the Termination Agreement, subject to certain exceptions, we have also agreed with Kin, on behalf of ourselves and our respective related parties, to a release of claims relating to the transactions contemplated by the Kin Business Combination Agreement.
We intend to continue to pursue a business combination.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the prospectus associated with our initial public offering, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
Our stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination if the business combination would not require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange requirement, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Even if we seek stockholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of the business combination.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of 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.
The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. 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.
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The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful 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 consummate our initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of our Public Offering, or May 24, 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 consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our Public Offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by current or anticipated military conflict, including between Russia and Ukraine, terrorism, sanctions or other geopolitical events globally, the COVID-19 pandemic, including new variant strains of the underlying virus, and the status of debt and equity markets.
Our ability to consummate a business combination may be dependent on our ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by current or anticipated military conflict, including between Russia and Ukraine, terrorism, sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Economic uncertainty in various global markets caused by political instability may result in weakened demand for products sold by potential target businesses and difficulty in forecasting financial results on which we rely in the evaluation of potential target businesses. Global conflicts, including the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as economic sanctions implemented by the United States and European Union against Russia in response thereto, may negatively impact markets, increase energy and transportation costs and cause weaker macro-economic conditions. Political developments impacting government spending, and international trade, including inflation or raising interest rates, may also negatively impact markets and cause weaker macro-economic conditions. The effect of any or all of these events could adversely impact our ability to find a suitable business combination, as it may affect demand for potential target companies’ products or the cost of manufacturing thereof, harm their operations and weaken their financial results.
Additionally, the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in, and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in, a widespread health crisis adversely affecting the economies and financial markets worldwide, potentially including the business of any potential target business with which we intend to consummate a business combination. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination at all if concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or make it impossible or impractical to negotiate and consummate a transaction with the target company’s personnel, vendors and service providers in a timely manner, if at all. 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 that may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or 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 and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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We may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of our Public Offering, or May 24, 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 consummate our initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of our Public Offering, or May 24, 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. 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law.
There is uncertainty regarding our ability to continue as a going concern, indicating the possibility that we may be required to curtail or discontinue our operations in the future. If we discontinue our operations, you may lose all of your investment.
As of December 31, 2021, we had cash outside our trust account of $135,734 available for working capital needs. All remaining cash was held in the trust account and is generally unavailable for our use prior to the business combination. If our estimate of the costs of consummating our proposed business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, or the amount of interest available to us from the trust account is less than we expect as a result of the current interest rate environment, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. If we are unable to raise additional capital, we may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction, and reducing overhead expenses from the filing date of this Annual Report, assuming that a business combination is not consummated during that time. We cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to us on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern if a business combination is not consummated by May 24, 2022.
Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to consummate our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only consummate such financing simultaneously with the consummation of our initial business combination. Following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations, and there is no assurance that such financing can be obtained on favorable terms, or at all.
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, directors, 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 NYSE rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the Trust Account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. 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.
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In the event that our Sponsor, directors, 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 warrantholders 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. 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 submitting or 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 scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. 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 scheduled 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 our Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the completion of our Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our 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.
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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our shares of Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our shares of 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 in 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 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 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open-market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we 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 our Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a stockholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants not being held in the Trust Account are insufficient to allow us to operate until May 24, 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.
The funds available to us outside of the Trust Account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate until May 24, 2022, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate until May 24, 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.
If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our Sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our Sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the Trust Account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. 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.
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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 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.
WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of our Public Offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the Trust Account, due to claims of such creditors. 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 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 our 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 the 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 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, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. 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 or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency 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 or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency 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, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the Trust Account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
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If, before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency 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 or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency 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.
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; |
● | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
● | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. |
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 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 that 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 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 submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent consummating our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our Public Offering, 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.
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.
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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 appoint directors.
In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.
Because we neither are limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have selected any target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business or businesses that can benefit from our management team’s established global relationships and operating experience. Our management team has a differentiated ability to underwrite transactions across the financial services landscape, including the wealth and investment management sectors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prohibits us from effectuating a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or 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 who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders 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.
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 reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we pay in our initial business combination is fair to the Company 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 or from a valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
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We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following the Public Offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the Trust Account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the Trust Account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
● | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
● | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
● | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; |
● | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding; |
● | our inability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock; |
● | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
● | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
● | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
● | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of our 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 our Public Offering and the Private Placement Warrants provided us with $206,500,000 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $7,227,500 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.
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We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in our Public Offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event that we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this Form 10-K regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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.
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 do not agree.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. 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, 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 and that our stockholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval of holders of 65% of our Common Stock, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the Private Placement Warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the Private Placement Warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding Private Placement Warrants. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require us to provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate our initial business combination within 18 months of the closing of our Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
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If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our Public Offering, our public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond 18 months before redemption from our Trust Account can occur.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our Public Offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public stockholders from the Trust Account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind up, liquidate the Trust Account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public stockholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”). In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 18 months from the closing of our Public Offering before the redemption proceeds of our Trust Account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our Trust Account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where stockholders have sought to redeem their shares of Class A common stock. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public stockholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.
The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account) may be amended with the approval of holders of 65% of our Common Stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our Public Offering and the private placement of warrants into the Trust Account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our Common Stock entitled to vote thereon and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our Common Stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding Common Stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. Our initial stockholders, who collectively beneficially own 20% of our Common Stock upon the closing of our 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 and directors have agreed, pursuant to written agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (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 or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
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Certain agreements related to the Public Offering may be amended without stockholder approval.
Each of the agreements related to the Public Offering to which we are a party, other than the warrant agreement and the investment management trust agreement, may be amended without stockholder approval. Such agreements are: the underwriting agreement; the letter agreement among us and our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors; the registration rights agreement among us and our initial stockholders; the Private Placement Warrants purchase agreement among us, our Sponsor and our initial stockholders; 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 solicitation or tender offer materials, 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.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
We have not selected any specific business combination target but intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants. As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the Trust Account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Our initial stockholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon closing of the Public Offering, our initial stockholders owned approximately 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in the Public Offering). 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 shares of Class A common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. 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 appointed by our Sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting of stockholders, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment 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, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”) depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
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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 that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we 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 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.
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, our results of operations and our share price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct 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 within 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 who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders 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.
Resources could be expended 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, consultants 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.
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. However, the role of our key personnel in the target business 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.
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Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law.
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 who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value 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.
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, which could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will 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, shares or other equity securities of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares of 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 be able to maintain control of the target business. 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.
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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 effect a business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in the target business’s home jurisdiction, 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; |
● | challenges in managing and staffing international operations; |
● | longer payment cycles; |
● | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
● | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
● | rates of inflation; |
● | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
● | cultural and language differences; |
● | employment regulations; |
● | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
● | corruption; |
● | protection of intellectual property; |
● | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
● | regime changes and political upheaval; |
● | terrorist attacks and wars; and |
● | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our Public Offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the eighteenth month from the closing of the Public Offering in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
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Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our Public Offering is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
Risks Relating to our Management Team
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the Trust Account and to not seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the Trust Account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
Past performance by our management team and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.
Information regarding our management team and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance by our management team and their affiliates and the businesses with which they have been associated, is not a guarantee that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination, that we will be able to provide positive returns to our stockholders, or of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical experiences of our management team and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or as indicative of every prior investment by each of the members of our management team or their affiliates. The market price of our securities may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, and our stockholders may experience losses on their investment in our securities.
Our 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 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 officers is engaged in other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our 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 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, subject to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law. 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 it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
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In addition, our Sponsor and our officers and directors 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. We do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our 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, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our Sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. We do not 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 are dependent upon our 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 officers and directors and the members of our advisory board. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers, directors and members of our advisory board, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our 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 officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on 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, officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our Sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, 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 that 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, 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.
Since our Sponsor, 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 our Public Offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On September 30, 2020, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 10,062,500 Founder Shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.0025 per share. On November 13, 2020, our Sponsor surrendered 2,875,000 Founder Shares for no consideration. On November 19, 2020, our Sponsor surrendered an additional 1,437,500 Founder Shares for no consideration. 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 number of Founder Shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of our Public Offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such Founder Shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after our Public Offering. Up to 750,000 of the Founder Shares will be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment is exercised. The Founder Shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 6,130,000 Private Placement Warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $6,130,000, or $1.00 per warrant. The Private Placement Warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination.
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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 date that is 18 months after the closing of the Public Offering nears, which is the deadline for us to consummate our initial business combination.
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 earliest 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 and on the conditions described herein; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our Public Offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. 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.
The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our units, Class A common stock and warrants are listed on the NYSE. Although we currently meet the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount of stockholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with 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 and our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5.0 million. 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 shares of Class A common stock are a “penny stock,” which will require brokers trading in our shares of 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 |
● | decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” 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.
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We have not registered the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We have not registered the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, 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 commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use commercially reasonable 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 shares of 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 consolidated 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 from registration.
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 commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available. Exercising the warrants on a cashless basis could have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of shares of Class A common stock upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold than upon a cash exercise.
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. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the units. There may be a circumstance in which an exemption from registration exists for holders of our Private Placement Warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in our Public Offering. In such an instance, our Sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the shares of Common Stock underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying shares of Common Stock. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying shares of Class A common stock for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the shares of Class A common stock, and you do not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the shares of Class A common stock. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company about which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within 20 business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
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The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and holders of our Private Placement Warrants may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our shares of Class A common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in our Public Offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the shares of Class A common stock into which Founder Shares are convertible, holders of our Private Placement Warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Private Placement Warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the shares of Class A common Stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the shares of Common Stock owned by our initial stockholders, holders of our Private Placement Warrants or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
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 therein. 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 our Public Offering, there were 360,000,000 and 15,000,000 authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and shares of 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 shares of Class B common stock. The shares of Class B Common Stock are automatically convertible into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, including in certain circumstances in which we issue shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination. Immediately after our 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 shares of 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 on any initial business combination. 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 our Public Offering; |
● | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A common stock; |
● | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of Class A common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
● | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or warrants. |
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on stockholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite stockholder approval by special resolution under the DGCL, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a stockholder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the stockholder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to stockholders to pay such taxes. Stockholders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore, investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
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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 a majority 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 the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder of public warrants if holders of at least a majority 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 a majority 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 shares, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
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 outstanding 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 $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send proper notice of such redemption to the warrants holders and provided 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, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.
None of the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 10,325,000 shares of Class A common stock as part of the units sold in the Public Offering and the Over-Allotment and, simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering and the Over-Allotment, we issued an aggregate of 6,130,000 Private Placement Warrants, at $1.00 per warrant. In addition, if our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors makes any working capital loans (“Working Capital Loans”), such lender may convert those Working Capital Loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant.
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To the extent we issue shares of 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 shares of 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.
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
On April 12, 2021, the Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and Acting Chief Accountant of the SEC together issued a public statement (the “SEC Warrant Accounting Statement”) on accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”). The SEC Warrant Accounting Statement regarding the accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by SPACs focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination. The terms described in the SEC Warrant Accounting Statement are common in SPACs and are similar to the terms contained in the warrant agreement governing our warrants. In response to the SEC Warrant Accounting Statement, we reevaluated the accounting treatment of our public warrants and private placement warrants, and determined to classify the warrants as derivative liabilities measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings. As a result, included on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 contained elsewhere in this Annual Report are derivative liabilities related to embedded features contained within our warrants. ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, 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.
General Risk Factors
We are a recently formed 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 recently formed blank check company established under the laws of the State of Delaware with no operating results. 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 business combination. If we fail to complete our business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our consolidated 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 consolidated financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our Common Stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our Common Stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our consolidated financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
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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 shares of preferred stock, which 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 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.
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, (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction, or (D) any action arising under the Securities Act, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall have concurrent 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. 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 may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
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 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 consolidated 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 consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
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As described in Amendment No. 2 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A of Omnichannel Acquisition Corp. for the fiscal period ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the SEC on December 3, 2021, we have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to our accounting classification of the public shares and the calculation of earnings per share. As a result of this material weakness, our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2020. Historically, a portion of our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption was classified as permanent equity to maintain stockholders’ equity greater than $5 million on the basis that the Company will not redeem its Class A common stock in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001, as described in 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 its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, the Company’s management has determined that the Class A common stock includes certain provisions that require classification of all of the Class A common stock 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 Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, see “Part II, Item 9A: Controls and Procedures” included in this Annual Report.
As described in “Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures,” we have concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was ineffective as of December 31, 2021 because a material weakness existed in our internal control over financial reporting. We have taken a number of measures to remediate the material weakness described therein; however, if we are unable to remediate our material weakness 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 consolidated financial statements are not filed on a timely basis, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the stock exchange on which our Class A 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, which may impair our ability to obtain capital in a timely fashion to execute our business strategies or 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 “Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.”
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 consolidated financial statements.
ITEM IB. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.
Our executive offices are located at First Floor West, 51 John F. Kennedy Parkway, Millburn, NJ 07078. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
As of December 31, 2021, to the knowledge of our management, there was no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such, and we and the members of our management team have not been subject to any such proceeding.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.
Not applicable.
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PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
Market Information
Our units, Class A common stock and warrants are listed on the NYSE under the symbols “OCA.U,” “OCA” and “OCA WS”, respectively.
Holders
As of March 22, 2022, there was one registered holder of record of our units, one registered holder of record of our Class A common stock, one holder of record of our Class B common stock and three registered holders of record of our warrants. The number of holders of record does not include a substantially greater number of “street name” holders or beneficial holders whose units, Class A common stock and warrants are held of record by banks, brokers and other financial institutions.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
Unregistered Sales
The sales of the Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants to our Sponsor and our initial stockholders as described herein were deemed to be exempt from registration under the Securities Act, in reliance on Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act as transactions by an issuer not involving a public offering.
Use of Proceeds
On November 19, 2020, our registration statement on Form S-l (File No. 333-249686) was declared effective by the SEC for the Public Offering pursuant to which we sold an aggregate of 20,650,000 units (including the issuance of 650,000 units as a result of the underwriters’ partial exercise of their over-allotment option) at an offering price to the public of $10.00 per unit for an aggregate offering price of $206,500,000, with each unit consisting of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one Warrant. Each whole Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. acted as the representative for the underwriters (the “Underwriters”). The Public Offering did not terminate before all of the securities registered in our registration statement were sold. The Public Offering was consummated on November 24, 2020.
The net proceeds from the Public Offering and the Private Placement, including deferred underwriting discounts of $7,227,500, are held in the Trust Account as of December 31, 2021. We paid approximately $4,130,000 in underwriting discounts. No payments were made by us to directors, officers or persons owning ten percent or more of our common stock or to their associates, or to our affiliates. There has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds from the Public Offering as described in our final prospectus dated November 17, 2020, which was filed with the SEC.
ITEM 6. [RESERVED]
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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
References to the “Company,” “Omnichannel Acquisition Corp.,” “Omnichannel,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Omnichannel Acquisition Corp. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the consolidated 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.
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 of 1933, as amended, 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. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other SEC filings.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on September 9, 2020. We were 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”). We are an emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
Our sponsor is Omnichannel Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for our Public Offering was declared effective November 19, 2020. On November 24, 2020, we consummated our Public Offering of 20,000,000 units (the “Units”) at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $200.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $11.6 million, inclusive of approximately $7.0 million in deferred underwriting commissions (Note 5). We granted the underwriters in the Public Offering (the “Underwriters”) a 45-day option to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units to cover over-allotments, if any. The Underwriters partially exercised the over-allotment option and on November 30, 2020, the underwriters purchased an additional 650,000 Units (the “Over-Allotment Units”), generating gross proceeds of $6.5 million, and incurred additional offering costs of $357,500 in underwriting fees (inclusive of $227,500 in deferred underwriting fees) (the “Over-Allotment”).
Simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 6,000,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant to the Sponsor, generating proceeds of $6.0 million (Note 4). Simultaneously with the closing of the Over-Allotment on November 30, 2020, the Company consummated the second closing of the Private Placement, resulting in the purchase of an aggregate of an additional 130,000 Private Placement Warrants by the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds to us of $130,000.
Upon the closing of the Public Offering, the Over-Allotment and the Private Placement, $206.5 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Public Offering, the Over-Allotment and of the Private Placement Warrants in the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), as determined by us, until the earlier of (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
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Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. We must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of 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) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, we will only complete a Business Combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the 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.
If we are unable to complete a Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Public Offering, or May 24, 2022 (the “Combination Period”), we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay its taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of 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
On July 19, 2021, we entered into a business combination agreement with Omnichannel Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Omnichannel (“Merger Sub”), and Kin Insurance, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Kin”) (the “Kin Business Combination Agreement”). Upon the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Kin Business Combination Agreement (the “Closing”), Merger Sub would have merged with and into Kin with Kin surviving the Merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Omnichannel (the “Kin Business Combination”). In addition, at the Closing, Omnichannel would have been renamed “Kin Holdings, Inc.”
On January 26, 2022, we entered into a Termination of the Business Combination Agreement (the “Termination Agreement”) with Merger Sub and Kin, pursuant to which the parties agreed to mutually terminate the Kin Business Combination Agreement. The termination of the Kin Business Combination Agreement was effective as of January 26, 2022.
As a result of the termination of the Kin Business Combination Agreement, the Kin Business Combination Agreement is void and there is no liability under the Kin Business Combination Agreement on the part of any party thereto, except as set forth in the Termination Agreement and each of the transaction agreements entered into in connection with the Kin Business Combination Agreement insofar as a transaction agreement creates any obligation surviving the termination of the Kin Business Combination to a third party not signatory to the Termination Agreement, including, but not limited to, the Sponsor Agreement, dated as of July 19, 2021, by and among the Sponsor, Kin and certain of the Sponsor’s equity holders. Pursuant to the Termination Agreement, subject to certain exceptions, we and Kin have also agreed, on behalf of ourselves and our respective related parties, to a release of claims relating to the transactions contemplated by the Kin Business Combination Agreement.
For additional information regarding the applicable agreements, see our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on July 19, 2021, January 26, 2022, and January 27, 2022, and our registration statement on Form S-4 (as amended), initially filed with the SEC on August 12, 2021.
Liquidity and Going Concern
As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $136,000 in cash and a working capital deficit of approximately $2.7 million.
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied through a capital contribution of $25,000 from the Sponsor to purchase the Founder Shares (as defined below), the loan under the Note from the Sponsor of approximately $105,000 (see Note 4) to us, and the net proceeds from the consummation of the Private Placement not held in the Trust Account. We fully repaid the Note on November 24, 2020. Our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, provide us Working Capital Loans (see Note 4).
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On September 10, 2021, the Sponsor agreed to loan us an aggregate of up to $300,000 in loans, and on November 11, 2021, the Sponsor committed to provide us an additional amount of up to $700,000 in loans, for an aggregate of up to $1.0 million in loans, in each case in order to finance our working capital needs (including transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination) (the foregoing, the “Sponsor Loan Commitment”). As described above, up to $1.0 million of the Sponsor Loan Commitment may be convertible into warrants to purchase our Class A common stock at a conversion price of $1.00 per warrant. As of December 31, 2021, we borrowed from the Sponsor the amount of $650,000 under the Sponsor Loan Commitment, which amount remains outstanding (see Note 4).
In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements - Going Concern,” management has determined that the liquidity condition, mandatory liquidation date and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to complete a business combination by May 24, 2022, then we will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should we be required to liquidate after May 24, 2022.
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 the 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 since inception up to December 31, 2021 was in preparation for our formation, the Public Offering, and the search for a target for a Business Combination. We will not be generating any operating revenues until the closing and completion of our initial Business Combination.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net gain of approximately $6.9 million which consisted of an approximately $11.5 million change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities and approximately $81,000 of income from our investments held in the Trust Account, which were partially offset by $4.4 million in general and administrative expenses, $48,000 in general and administrative expenses - related party and approximately $202,000 in franchise tax.
For the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had a net loss of approximately $3.9 million, which consisted of an approximately $1.8 million loss from changes in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities, a loss upon issuance of Private Placement Warrants of approximately $1.1 million, offering costs of approximately $0.7 million related to the issuance of derivative warrant liabilities, approximately $173,000 in general and administrative expenses, $8,000 in general and administrative expenses to related parties, $62,000 of franchise tax expense, and a net loss on investments held in the Trust Account of approximately $1,000.
Contractual Obligations
Registration and Stockholder 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), are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement. 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 the completion of the initial Business Combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
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Administrative Services Agreement
We entered into an agreement that provided that, commencing on the effective date of the prospectus through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination and our liquidation, we shall pay the Sponsor a total of $4,000 per month for office space, secretarial, expense for period and administrative services provided to members of our management team.
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 Public Offering. In addition, in connection with the Public Offering, the underwriters are entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or approximately $7.0 million in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that we complete a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
In connection with the consummation of the Over-Allotment on November 30, 2020, the underwriters were entitled to an additional fee of $130,000 paid upon closing, and $227,500 in deferred underwriting commissions.
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. Our 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 investments are included in interest earned from investments held in Trust Account in the statement of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in the Trust Account are determined using available market information, other than for investments in open-ended money market funds with published daily net asset values (“NAV”), in which case the Company uses NAV as a practical expedient to fair value. The NAV on these investments is typically held constant at $1.00 per unit.
Derivative Warrant Liabilities
We do not use derivative instruments to hedge our exposure to cash flow, market or foreign currency risks. We evaluate all of our financial instruments, including issued warrants to purchase its Class A common stock, 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”). 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 10,325,000 warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering (the “Public Warrants”) and the 6,130,000 Private Placement Warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815. Accordingly, we recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjusts 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 statement of operations. The fair value of Public Warrants and Private Warrants was estimated at December 31, 2020 using a binomial / lattice model that assumes optimal exercise of the Company’s redemption option, including the make whole table, at the earliest possible date. The fair value of Public Warrants and Private Warrants was measured by reference to the listed price in an active market for the Public Warrants, the closing price of the warrants on NYSE as of December 31, 2021. The determination of the fair value of the warrant liability may be subject to change as more current information becomes available and accordingly the actual results could differ significantly. Derivative warrant liabilities are classified 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.
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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.” Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption (if any) is classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. 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, Class A common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. Our Class A common stock feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, 20,650,000 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption are presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of our consolidated balance sheets.
We recognize changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust 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. Effective with the closing of the Public Offering (including exercise of the over-allotment option), we 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.
Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” We have two classes of shares: 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 computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of common stock outstanding during the periods. We do not consider the effect warrants sold in the Public Offering and the Private Placement, an aggregate of 16,455,000 warrants, would have on diluted net income (loss) per share if exercised to purchase the Company’s Class A common stock because their exercise is contingent upon future events and their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted net income (loss) per share is the same as basic net income (loss) per share for the year ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020. Accretion associated with the Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued 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. We adopted ASU 2020-06 on January 1, 2021. Adoption of the ASU did not impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards updates, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (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 consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
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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 PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the consolidated 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 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 under the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
This information appears following Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.
None.
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period ended December 31, 2021, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that, as of the evaluation date, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective 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 consolidated 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 equity and equity-linked instruments issued by the Company and the presentation of earnings per share was not effectively designed or maintained. This material weakness resulted in the restatement of the Company’s balance sheet as of November 24, 2020, its annual consolidated financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2020, and its interim financial statements for the quarters ended March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021. In light of this material weakness, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with GAAP. Accordingly, management believes that the consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.
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We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 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 consolidated financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with U.S. 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 consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. 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 consolidated financial statements. |
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our consolidated 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 did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021.
The Company’s management has identified a material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to its accounting classification of the Public Shares and the calculation of earnings per share. Historically, a portion of our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption was classified as permanent equity to maintain stockholders’ equity greater than $5 million on the basis that the Company will not redeem its Class A common stock in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001, as described in 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 its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, the Company’s management has determined that the Class A common stock include certain provisions that require classification of all of the Class A common stock as temporary equity regardless of the net tangible assets redemption limitation contained in the charter. As a result of this material weakness, our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2021. Our management has concluded that our control around the interpretation and accounting for certain complex financial instruments we previously issued was not effectively designed or maintained. This material weakness resulted in the restatement of our balance sheet as of November 24, 2020, our annual consolidated financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2020 and our interim consolidated financial statements for the quarters ended March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021.
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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
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the year ended December 31, 2021 covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting except for the below:
Our principal executive officer and principal 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 equity and equity-linked instruments issued by the Company and the presentation of earnings per share. 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.
To remediate the above material weakness, we have implemented a remediation plan with assistance from our accounting advisors and have dedicated significant resources and efforts to the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we plan to enhance our system of evaluating and implementing the complex accounting standards that apply to our consolidated financial statements. Our plans at this time include providing enhanced access to accounting literature, research materials and documents and increased communication among our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION.
None.
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS
Not applicable.
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.
Directors and Executive Officers
Our directors and executive officers are as follows:
Name |
Age | Position | ||
Matt Higgins | 47 | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | ||
Christine Pantoya | 52 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
Austin Simon | 31 | Chief Operating Officer | ||
Bobbi Brown | 64 | Director | ||
Albert Carey | 70 | Director | ||
Priya Dogra | 42 | Director | ||
Vicky Free | 51 | Director | ||
Mark Gerson | 49 | Director | ||
Emmett Shine | 38 | Director |
Matt Higgins has served as our Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and a member of our board of directors since September 2020. Mr. Higgins is also the Chief Executive Officer of RSE Ventures (“RSE”), an incubator and investment firm that he co-founded in September 2012 to pursue opportunities in the sports, media, entertainment, food, and technology sectors. Mr. Higgins’ deep operating experience spans multiple industries over his 25-year career, which he draws upon to help founders navigate complex situations in order to reach their full potential.
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A lifelong New Yorker, Mr. Higgins spent much of his early career in public service at the site of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. He was appointed one of the first employees — and ultimately Chief Operating Officer — of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the $2 billion dollar federally funded government agency created to plan and oversee the rebuilding of the 16-acre World Trade Center site. Mr. Higgins helped organize the largest international design competition in history, culminating in Reflecting Absence, the September 11th National Memorial, and the development of One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the United States.
After transitioning to the private sector, Mr. Higgins spent 15 years affiliated with the National Football League, overseeing business operations for two NFL franchises. At RSE Ventures, Mr. Higgins has incubated numerous businesses and successfully backed many challenger brands from inception, including RESY, an OpenTable competitor that American Express acquired in 2019; Drone Racing League, the world’s premier drone racing circuit; and the International Champions Cup, the largest privately-owned soccer tournament featuring Europe’s top clubs. Starting in 2016, he broadened RSE’s focus to rapidly expanding food concepts including David Chang’s Momofuku, Fuku, Milk Bar, &pizza, and Bluestone Lane.
Mr. Higgins has a deep lens into consumer trends through RSE’s partnership with Gary Vaynerchuk in the leading digital-first marketing firm VaynerMedia. Mr. Higgins was the agency’s first client over a decade ago and RSE went on to acquire a significant ownership stake in the business. The agency has over 900 employees and is regarded as one of the top advisors to Fortune 500 companies on emerging marketing strategies before they go mainstream — including, for example, serving as the U.S. agency of record for TikTok. Through RSE, Mr. Higgins also teamed up with Jesse Derris to launch a brand strategy and communications firm that over the years has represented a number of leading DTC brands, including Warby Parker, Harry’s, Reformation and Everlane. Through RSE’s affiliated venture fund, Amity Supply, Mr. Higgins is an early shareholder in many disruptive brands, including Hims.
Mr. Higgins is an Executive Fellow at the Harvard Business School, where he co-teaches a course on emerging consumer trends with Professor Len Schlesinger, Moving Beyond DTC, through Harvard’s Short Immersive Program (SIP). Mr. Higgins also has been a guest shark on ABC’s hit show, Shark Tank, appearing on seasons 10 and 11, and Harper Collins’ William Morrow imprint will release his book, “Burn the Boats!,” in 2022. In 2019, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, joining the ranks of seven former U.S. presidents, Nobel Prize winners and other leaders for work to improve society. He is also a longstanding board member of Autism Speaks. Mr. Higgins received his Bachelor of Arts in political science and honorary doctorate from Queens College and his J.D. from Fordham Law, where he was a member of the Fordham Law Review.
Christine Pantoya has served as our Chief Financial Officer since October 2020. Mrs. Pantoya has served as the chief commercial officer, head of strategy of FANchise, a professional football e-sports platform, since July 2020. Additionally, Mrs. Pantoya currently serves as a board member of Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE: RHP) (since February 2019) and the managing director of Uncommon Brands, which she founded in January 2019. Prior to these roles, Mrs. Pantoya was a senior vice president and the head of the Mobile & Direct-to-Consumer division of the National Basketball Association from January 2015 to October 2018 and a vice president in the corporate development and strategy department of Verizon Communications from April 2012 to January 2015. Mrs. Pantoya has held numerous other senior operating roles in various telecommunications companies throughout her career, including Cox Communications, Enhanced Wireless, Clearwire, Sprint Nextel and PrimeCo. She attended Old Dominion University where she received her MBA in 1995 and her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish in 1993.
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Austin Simon has served as our Chief Operating Officer since October 2020. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Simon was an associate at Kainos Capital, a private equity firm dedicated to the consumer sector from July 2016 to July 2018. Before that, Mr. Simon was an associate at BlackRock in the U.S. Private Capital group, a principal investment team focused on private equity and credit investments in middle market companies from May 2013 to July 2016. At BlackRock, Mr. Simon’s team led the formation of Gordon Brothers Finance Company, a retail industry-focused investment platform jointly managed by BlackRock U.S.P.C. and Gordon Brothers Group. Mr. Simon started his career at Deutsche Bank as an analyst from 2012 to 2013 in the consumer and retail industry coverage group. He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Tulane University, summa cum laude in 2012, and his Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School in 2020.
Bobbi Brown has served as a director of the Company since November 2020. Mrs. Brown is the founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, where she served as the Chief Creative Officer until 2016. Mrs. Brown also launched Beauty Evolution, a modern lifestyle company for all things wellness, beauty, and everything in between. Mrs. Brown left her namesake brand in 2016 to return to her roots as an entrepreneur, launching three new businesses: justBOBBI.com, a digital editorial content site; The George, a 31-room boutique hotel in Montclair, NJ, and Beyond the Beauty with Bobbi Brown, a podcast that interviews innovative founders and entrepreneurs. In October 2020, Mrs. Brown returned to the beauty industry and launched Jones Road, a direct-to-consumer collection of clean beauty products for all ages, skin types, and skin tones. She is the Beauty & Lifestyle Editor of Elvis Duran and The Morning Show, has her own podcast called The Important Things, and pens columns for Katie Couric Media, Charlotte’s Book, and Naturally, Danny Seo. She is the author of nine books, including many New York Times bestsellers. Mrs. Brown has received wide recognition, including the Glamour Woman of the Year Award, the Fashion Group International Night of Stars Beauty Award, and the Jackie Robinson Foundation’s ROBIE Humanitarian Award. She was appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiation and has been inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Mrs. Brown earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emerson College and holds honorary doctorate degrees from Montclair State University, Fashion Institute of Technology, Monmouth University, and Emerson College.
Albert Carey has served as a director of the Company since November 2020. Mr. Carey currently serves as the chairman of the board of Unifi, Inc. (since April 2019) and has been on the board of directors of The Home Depot since 2008. Mr. Carey previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo North America from March 2016 to April 2019, where he was responsible for leading PepsiCo’s North America Beverage business, Frito Lay North America, and the North America Nutrition business. Prior to his role as the chief executive officer, Mr. Carey held multiple executive roles at PepsiCo, working across the snacks and beverages portfolio. He served as president and CEO of Frito-Lay North America, where he led the snack and convenient foods business, and as president of PepsiCo Sales, where he led sales and customer management for the company’s retail, foodservice and fountain businesses. Prior to joining PepsiCo in 1981, Mr. Carey worked at Procter & Gamble for seven years. Mr. Carey is on the Board of Trustees, and the Dean’s advisory council of the Robert H. Smith School of Business, both at the University of Maryland. Mr. Carey holds a Bachelor of Science in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland.
Priya Dogra has served as a director of the Company since November 2020. Ms. Dogra currently serves as the President, WarnerMedia for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia (excluding China) (since July 2020). She is responsible for various commercial and content activities, including theatrical distribution, advertising, affiliate sales, content sales, programming, production as well as the operations of the company’s linear channels across the regions. Ms. Dogra has been in the media sector for over a decade and prior to this role, she served as the head of Strategy & Corporate Development for WarnerMedia from August 2018 to July 2020, with responsibility for driving the company’s overall corporate growth initiatives and their direct-to-consumer strategy internationally. Previously, Ms. Dogra served as the head of Mergers & Acquisitions for Time Warner from August 2015 to July 2018. She has extensive public company deal experience and considerable background in direct-to-consumer activities. Prior to WarnerMedia, Ms. Dogra spent seven years at Citigroup in the Media and Telecom Investment Banking group. Ms. Dogra received her Bachelor of Science in Commerce and Computer Science from the University of Toronto.
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Vicky Free has served as a director of the Company since November 2020. Mrs. Free was appointed as the senior vice president of global marketing of Adidas in November 2020 and previously served as the senior vice president and Chief Marketing Officer for Novant Health (from May 2019 to November 2020) and has more than 25 years of experience in marketing and brand management. At Novant, she oversaw and implemented the organization’s marketing strategies including brand, market research, paid media and campaign management, digital engagement as well as insights and analytics. Mrs. Free was previously the senior vice president of global brand strategy, marketing and creative for Disney/ABC International from March 2017 to May 2019, where she led the overall brand strategy, marketing campaign development, retail marketing and digital initiatives to drive sales, ownership and consumption of Walt Disney Studios Theatrical in-home content and ABC Television Distribution content. Prior to working at Disney/ABC International, Mrs. Free served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer for BET Networks from June 2011 to January 2017, where she led brand strategy and consumer advertising across the BET Networks enterprise. Mrs. Free also held several marketing leadership positions with Time Warner, including Turner Networks, TNT, TBS and TCM. Prior to her work in national media, Mrs. Free worked with McDonald’s Corporation to develop annual marketing campaigns for women and multicultural markets. Mrs. Free is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and on the board of directors for VIZIO Holdings and PromaxBDA, serving as the Secretary of the Executive Board for the latter, and is a member of the University of South Carolina Dean’s Advisory Board. She has been recognized for her executive leadership and marketing expertise by Ad Age, Ebony, UpTown, CableFax 50 Most Powerful Women & Minorities in Cable (2008-2018), NAMIC, Multicultural TV Leadership Awards, PromaxBDA, Black Enterprise, The Network Journal, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Mrs. Free earned her Bachelor of Arts in mass communications from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She has also earned leadership certifications from UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management and Harvard University.
Mark Gerson has served as a director of the Company since November 2020. Mr. Gerson currently serves on the board of directors of the Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), which position he has held since he co-founded GLG in 1998. He is also the co-founder of several other companies in industries ranging from healthcare services to enterprise software, and Create, a venture studio that is launching companies across a number of diversified industries, where he also serves as a board member. Mr. Gerson also serves as a director of Julius (since June 2017), Voray (since August 2014), Quality Reviews (since June 2012), Thuzio (since April 2012) and Matterhorn (since August 2011). He has been a seed round investor in companies in industries from diversified consumer products to biotechnology. Mr. Gerson is also the co-founder and Chairman of United Hatzalah, the crowd-sourced network of volunteer first responders throughout Israel with affiliates throughout the world. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of the Africa Mission Healthcare Foundation, which supports the work of medical missionaries in Africa through clinical care, training and infrastructure. He has a regular column on the Torah on the Christian Broadcasting Network, and his book, “The Telling — How Judaism’s Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life” is forthcoming from St. Martin’s Essentials in March 2021. Mark received his bachelor’s degree from Williams College, summa cum laude, and received his J.D. from Yale Law School.
Emmett Shine has served as a director of the Company since November 2020. Mr. Shine is the Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director (since August 2019) of Pattern, a family of consumer brands that work together to help people enjoy daily life. Each brand provides the essentials to make, shape, and grow a home — the center of daily life. Prior to Pattern, Mr. Shine founded Gin Lane, serving as President and Executive Creative Director from January 2008 to August 2019. Gin Lane helped usher in a new wave of consumer-led, digital-first brands, helping to launch and grow Harry’s, SmileDirectClub, Sweetgreen, Hims, Stadium Goods, Quip, Recess, Haus, Sunday Goods, and many more. Mr. Shine is on the founding team of JAJA Tequila and an advisor to Care/Of, Sunday Goods, Swell Energy, Shhhowercap, and Recess.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors consists of seven members and is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Vicky Free and Emmett Shine, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Priya Dogra and Mark Gerson, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Bobbi Brown, Albert Carey and Matt Higgins, will expire at the third annual meeting of stockholders.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
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Director Independence
The rules of the NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). We have six “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE rules and applicable SEC rules. Our board of directors has determined that each of Bobbi Brown, Albert Carey, Priya Dogra, Vicky Free, Mark Gerson and Emmett Shine is an “independent director” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Board Committees
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. The rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act generally require that these committees be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
We have an audit committee comprised of Ms. Dogra, Mr. Gerson, Mrs. Free and Mr. Shine, each of whom is independent under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules.
Ms. Dogra serves as the chair of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Ms. Dogra qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
The audit committee is responsible for:
● | meeting with our independent accountants regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems; |
● | monitoring the independence of the independent auditor; |
● | verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law; |
● | inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
● | pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent auditor, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed; |
● | appointing or replacing the independent auditor; |
● | determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent auditor (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work; |
● | establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our consolidated financial statements or accounting policies; |
● | monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of the Public Offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of the Public Offering; and |
● | reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing holders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval. |
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Compensation Committee
We have a compensation committee comprised of Mrs. Brown and Mr. Shine, each of whom is independent under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Mrs. Brown serves as the chair of the compensation committee. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officer’s compensation, evaluating our chief executive officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our chief executive officer based on such evaluation; |
● | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
● | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our 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 . |
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
We have a nominating and corporate governance committee comprised of Mr. Carey and Mr. Gerson and Mr. Carey serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
● | screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of stockholders or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
● | developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
● | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
● | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
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Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and Committee Charters
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed copies of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and our audit committee and compensation committee charters as exhibits to our registration statement in connection with the 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 from us in writing at First Floor West, 51 John F. Kennedy Parkway, Millburn, NJ 07078 or by telephone at (908) 271-6641. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our code of business conduct and ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
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 $4,000 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, 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.
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.
We have no compensation plans under which equity securities are authorized for issuance.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March 25, 2022, by:
● | each person known by us to be a beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding common stock of, on an as-converted basis; |
● | each of our officers and directors; and |
● | all of our officers and directors as a group. |
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The following table is based on 25,812,500 shares of common stock of outstanding as of March 25, 2022, of which 20,650,000 were shares of Class A common stock and 5,162,500 were shares of Class B common stock. Unless otherwise indicated, it is believed that all persons named in the table below have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them.
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Percentage of Outstanding Common Stock | ||||||
Omnichannel Sponsor LLC (the Sponsor) (2)(3) | 5,162,500 | 20.0 | % | |||||
Matt Higgins(2)(3) | 5,162,500 | 20.0 | % | |||||
Christine Pantoya | - | - | ||||||
Austin Simon | - | - | ||||||
Bobbi Brown | - | - | ||||||
Albert Carey | - | - | ||||||
Priya Dogra | - | - | ||||||
Vicky Free | - | - | ||||||
Mark Gerson | - | - | ||||||
Emmett Shine | - | - | ||||||
Glazer Capital, LLC(4) | 1,502,051 | 5.8 | % | |||||
Weiss Asset Management LP(5) | 1,551,691 | 6.0 | % | |||||
Millennium International Management LP(6) | 1,321,076 | 5.1 | % |
(1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our stockholders listed is c/o Omnichannel Acquisition Corp., First Floor West, 51 John F. Kennedy Parkway, Millburn, NJ 07078. |
(2) | Interests shown consist solely of Founder Shares, classified as shares of Class B common stock. Such shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described elsewhere herein. |
(3) | Omnichannel Sponsor LLC is the record holder of the shares reported herein. Matt Higgins is a member and the manager of Omnichannel Sponsor LLC and has voting and investment discretion with respect to the common stock held of record by Omnichannel Sponsor LLC. |
(4) | According to a Schedule 13G filed on February 14, 2022, on behalf of Glazer Capital, LLC and Paul J. Glazer, the aforementioned persons have beneficial ownership of the securities reported above and the business address of each such person is 250 West 55th Street, Suite 30A, New York, New York 10019. |
(5) | According to a Schedule 13G filed on February 11, 2022, on behalf of Weiss Asset Management LP, WAM GP LLC and Andrew M Weiss, Ph.D., the aforementioned persons have beneficial ownership of the securities reported above and the business address of each such person is 222 Berkeley St., 16th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02116. |
(6) | According to a Schedule 13G filed on January 20, 2022, on behalf of Millennium International Management LP, Millennium Management LLC, Millennium Group Management LLC and Israel A. Englander, the aforementioned persons have beneficial ownership of the securities reported above and the business address of each such person is 399 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022. |
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.
Founder Shares
On September 30, 2020, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 10,062,500 shares of Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”) for $25,000, or $0.0025 per share. On November 13, 2020, our Sponsor surrendered 2,875,000 Founder Shares for no consideration. On November 19, 2020, our Sponsor surrendered an additional 1,437,500 Founder Shares for no consideration. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the Sponsor, the Company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of Founder Shares outstanding was determined based on the Company’s expectation that the total size of the Public Offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised in full, and therefore that such Founder Shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the Public Offering. On November 30, 2020, in connection with the Over-Allotment, the underwriters purchased an additional 650,000 Units, The remaining unexercised over-allotment option expired on January 8, 2021; thus, 587,500 shares of Class B common stock held by the Sponsor were forfeited
The Founder Shares are identical to the public shares except that the Founder Shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below.
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Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the closing price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination and (B) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering, pursuant to the Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement, the Company completed the private sale of an aggregate of 6,000,000 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) to our sponsor and one of the Company’s directors at a purchase price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $6,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the Over-Allotment on November 30, 2020, we consummated the second closing of the Private Placement, resulting in the purchase of an aggregate of an additional 130,000 Private Placement Warrants by our Sponsor, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $130,000. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Warrants sold in the Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants, so long as they are held by Sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) are not redeemable by the Company, (ii) may not (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such Private Placement Warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by such holders until 30 days after the completion of the Company’s initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sale. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by holders other than Sponsor or its permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the Warrants included in the Units sold in the Public Offering. If the Company does not consummate its initial business combination within 18 months from the closing the Public Offering, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The issuance of the Private Placement Warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
If the Company does not complete a business combination, then the proceeds will be part of the liquidating distribution to the public stockholders and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
The Private Placement
Omnichannel entered into the Subscription Agreements with certain institutional investors (the “PIPE Investors”), pursuant to which, among other things, Omnichannel agreed to issue and sell in private placements an aggregate of 8,042,500 shares of Omnichannel Class A common stock to the PIPE Investors for $10.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $80,425,000 (the “PIPE Investment”). Matt Higgins (the Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and a director of Omnichannel), Mark Gerson (a director of Omnichannel), Aidan Kehoe (an Omnichannel advisor) and Garysquad III LLC (affiliated with Omnichannel advisor Gary Vaynerchuk) have each agreed to participate in the PIPE Investment and purchase 300,000 shares, 100,000 shares, 200,000 shares and 15,000 shares, respectively, of Omnichannel for an aggregate purchase price of $3 million, $1 million, $2 million and $150,000, respectively.
As a result of the termination of the Kin Business Combination Agreement, effective as of January 26, 2022, each of the subscription agreements entered into in connection with the PIPE Investment was automatically terminated with no further force or effect.
Registration Rights
The holders of Founders Shares and Private Placement Warrants will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed on November 19, 2020. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion the Company’s initial business combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
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Related Party Loan
On September 9, 2020, our Sponsor agreed to loan us an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan was non-interest bearing and payable upon the completion of the Public Offering. We borrowed approximately $105,000 under the Note and fully repaid the Note in full on November 24, 2020.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If we complete a Business Combination, we will 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, 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 lender’s discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 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 have borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Administrative Services
The Company will reimburse the Sponsor and its affiliates for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of the Company’s management team in an amount not to exceed $4,000 per month in the event such space and/or services are utilized and the Company does not pay a third party directly for such services, from the date of closing of the Public Offering. Upon completion of a business combination or the Company’s liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT 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 professional services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end consolidated financial statements, reviews of our quarterly consolidated financial statements and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with statutory and regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Withum for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the SEC for the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, and of services rendered in connection with our Public Offering, totaled $73,645. The aggregate fees billed by Withum for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2021 totaled $65,125.
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 consolidated 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. We did not pay Withum any audit-related fees during the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020. For the year ended December 31, 2021, we paid Withum $50,750 in audit-related fees in connection with auditor consents.
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Tax Fees. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. We did not pay Withum any tax fees during the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020. For the year ended December 31, 2021, we paid them $7,725 for professional services related to tax matters.
All Other Fees. All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. We did not pay Withum any other fees during the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 and for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Policy on Board Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of the Independent Auditors
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our initial public officering. 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 WithumSmith+Brown, PC, 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).
PART IV
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.
(a) | The following documents are filed as part of this report: |
(1) | Financial Statements |
Reference is made to the Index to Financial Statements of the Company under Item 8 of Part II above.
(2) | Financial Statement Schedule |
All financial statement schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial, not required, or the required information is presented in the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto in Item 8 of Part II above.
(3) | Exhibits |
We hereby file as part of this report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index.
47
OMNICHANNEL ACQUISITION CORP.
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
F-1
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of
Omnichannel Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Omnichannel 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 the period from September 9, 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 the period from September 9, 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 to raise additional funds to alleviate liquidity needs and complete a business combination by May 24, 2022 then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The liquidity condition and date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The 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 25, 2022
PCAOB ID NUMBER
F-2
OMNICHANNEL ACQUISITION CORP.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
December 31, | ||||||||
2021 | 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 | $ | $ | ||||||
Accounts payable – related party | ||||||||
Accrued expenses | ||||||||
Due to related party | ||||||||
Franchise tax payable | ||||||||
Total current liabilities | ||||||||
Convertible note – related party | ||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities | ||||||||
Deferred underwriting commissions | ||||||||
Total liabilities | ||||||||
Commitments and Contingencies | ||||||||
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption; $ | ||||||||
Stockholders’ Deficit: | ||||||||
Preferred stock, $ | ||||||||
Class A common stock, | ||||||||
Class B common stock, $ | ||||||||
Additional paid-in capital | ||||||||
Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Total stockholders’ deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Total Liabilities, 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
OMNICHANNEL ACQUISITION CORP.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | For the Period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | |||||||
General and administrative expenses | $ | $ | ||||||
Administrative expenses - related party | ||||||||
Franchise tax expense | ||||||||
Loss from operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Other income (expenses): | ||||||||
Loss upon issuance of private placement warrants | - | ( | ) | |||||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | ( | ) | ||||||
Offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities | - | ( | ) | |||||
Income (loss) from investments held in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||||||
Net income (loss) | $ | $ | ( | ) | ||||
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A common stock, basic and diluted | ||||||||
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share, Class A common stock | $ | $ | ( | ) | ||||
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B common stock, basic and diluted | ||||||||
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share, Class B common stock | $ | $ | ( | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-4
OMNICHANNEL ACQUISITION CORP.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 and
For the Period from September 9, 2020 through December 31, 2020
Common Stock | Additional Paid-In Capital | Total | |||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Accumulated | Stockholders' | ||||||||||
Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Deficit | Deficit | ||||||||
Balance - September 9, 2020 (inception) | - | - | |||||||||||
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor | - | - | |
|
|
- | |
||||||
Accretion of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption amount | - | - | - | - | ( |
) | ( |
) | ( |
||||
Net loss | - | - | - | - | - | ( |
) | ( |
|||||
Balance - December 31, 2020 | - | - | |
|
- | ( |
( |
||||||
Forfeiture of Class B common stock | - | ( |
) | ( |
) | |
|||||||
Subsequent measurement of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption against additional paid-in capital and accumulated deficit | - | - | ( |
) | |
||||||||
Net income | - | - | |
|
|||||||||
Balance - December 31, 2021 | - | |
$ |
$ ( |
) | $ ( |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-5
OMNICHANNEL ACQUISITION CORP.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | For the Period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||||||
Net income (loss) | $ | $ | ( | ) | ||||
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
Loss upon issuance of private placement warrants | ||||||||
Offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities | ||||||||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | ( | ) | ||||||
Loss (income) on investments held in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
Prepaid expenses | ( | ) | ||||||
Accounts payable | ||||||||
Accounts payable - related party | ||||||||
Accrued expenses | ||||||||
Franchise tax payable | ||||||||
Due to related party | ( | ) | ||||||
Net cash used in operating activities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities | ||||||||
Cash deposited in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||||||
Interest released from Trust Account to pay franchise taxes | ||||||||
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities | ( | ) | ||||||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||||||
Proceeds from issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor | ||||||||
Proceeds from note payable to related party | ||||||||
Repayment of note payable to 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 (decrease) in cash | ( | ) | ||||||
Cash - beginning of the period | ||||||||
Cash - end of the period | $ | $ | ||||||
Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities: | ||||||||
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
OMNICHANNEL ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1 - Description of Organization, Business Operations
Omnichannel Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on September 9, 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 September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”), described below, and since the closing of 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 on investments from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering (as defined below).
The
Company’s sponsor is Omnichannel Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The
registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective November 19, 2020. On November 24,
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, the Over-Allotment
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 the 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 provides the holders of the Company’s outstanding shares of Class A common stock (the “Public Stockholders”),
par value $
The
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder
or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more
than an aggregate of
The
Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors (the “Initial Stockholders”) agreed not to propose an amendment to
the Amended and Restated 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 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or May 24, 2022 (the “Combination Period”), the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in each case, to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
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 agreed
to waive their rights to the deferred underwriting commission (see Note 5) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not
complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds
held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is
possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be
only $
F-8
Termination of Proposed Business Combination
On July 19, 2021, we entered into a business combination agreement with Omnichannel Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Omnichannel (“Merger Sub”), and Kin Insurance, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Kin”) (the “Kin Business Combination Agreement”). Upon the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Kin Business Combination Agreement (the “Closing”), Merger Sub would have merged with and into Kin with Kin surviving the Merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Omnichannel (the “Kin Business Combination”). In addition, at the Closing, Omnichannel would have been renamed “Kin Holdings, Inc.”
On January 26, 2022, the Company, Merger Sub and Kin entered into a Termination of Business Combination Agreement (the “Termination Agreement”), pursuant to which the parties agreed to mutually terminate the Kin Business Combination Agreement. The termination of the Kin Business Combination Agreement was effective as of January 26, 2022.
As a result of the termination of the Kin Business Combination Agreement, the Kin Business Combination Agreement is void and there is no liability under the Kin Business Combination Agreement on the part of any party thereto, except as set forth in the Termination Agreement and each of the transaction agreements entered into in connection with the Kin Business Combination Agreement insofar as a transaction agreement creates any obligation surviving the termination of the Kin Business Combination to a third party not signatory to the Termination Agreement, including, but not limited to, the Sponsor Agreement, dated as of July 19, 2021, by and among the Sponsor, Kin and certain of the Sponsor’s equity holders. Pursuant to the Termination Agreement, subject to certain exceptions, the Company and Kin have also agreed, on behalf of themselves and their respective related parties, to a release of claims relating to the Kin Business Combination.
For additional information regarding the agreement, see the Company’s Current Reports on Form 8-K filed by us on July 19, 2021 and January 26, 2022, and the withdrawal of Company’s registration statement on Form S-4 (as amended) on January 27, 2022, for more information.
Liquidity and Going Concern
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had approximately $
On
September 9, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $
On
September 10, 2021, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $
The
Company’s liquidity needs had been satisfied through a capital contribution of $
F-9
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements - Going Concern,” management has determined that the liquidity condition and mandatory liquidation date and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination by May 24, 2022, then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after May 24, 2022.
Risks and Uncertainties
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) announced a global health emergency because of a new strain of coronavirus (the “COVID-19 outbreak”). In March 2020, the WHO classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic, based on the rapid increase in exposure globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve. The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the Company’s results of operations, financial position and cash flows will depend on future developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak and related advisories and restrictions. These developments and the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the financial markets and the overall economy are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. If the financial markets and/or the overall economy are impacted for an extended period, the Company’s results of operations, financial position and cash flows may be materially adversely affected. Additionally, the Company’s ability to complete an initial Business Combination may be materially adversely affected due to significant governmental measures being implemented to contain the COVID-19 outbreak or treat its impact, including travel restrictions, the shutdown of businesses and quarantines, among others, which may limit the Company’s ability to have meetings with potential investors or affect the ability of a potential target company’s personnel, vendors and service providers to negotiate and consummate an initial Business Combination in a timely manner. The Company’s ability to consummate an initial Business Combination may also be dependent on the ability to raise additional equity and debt financing, which may be impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting market downturn.
Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP. In the opinion of management, the consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments necessary for the fair statement of the balances and results for the periods presented.
Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiary. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
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 consolidated 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.
F-10
Use of Estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires 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 consolidated 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 consolidated financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
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 as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial
instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution,
which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation coverage limit of $
Investments Held in the Trust Account
The Company’s portfolio of investments 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 consolidated 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 net gain from investments held in Trust Account in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in the Trust Account are determined using available market information.
Fair Value Measurement
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.
F-11
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 observable inputs such as quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets; | |
● | Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and | |
● | Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. |
In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
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.
Derivative Warrant liabilities
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge its exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risks. Management evaluates all of the Company’s financial instruments, including issued warrants to purchase its Class A common stock, 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”). 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. Accordingly, the Company recognizes the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjusts 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 statement of operations. The fair value of Public Warrants and Private Warrants was estimated at December 31, 2020 using a binomial / lattice model that assumes optimal exercise of the Company’s redemption option, including the make whole table, at the earliest possible date. The fair value of Public Warrants and Private Warrants was measured by reference to the listed price in an active market for the Public Warrants, the closing price of the warrants on NYSE as of December 31, 2021. The determination of the fair value of the warrant liability may be subject to change as more current information becomes available and accordingly the actual results could differ significantly. Derivative warrant liabilities are classified 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.” Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption (if any) is classified as a liability instruments
and is measured at fair value. 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) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A common stock is classified as stockholders’
equity. 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 uncertain future events. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2021 and December 30, 2020,
F-12
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 issued and outstanding, 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. 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 calculation of diluted net income (loss) per common share
does not consider the effect of the warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering (including exercise of the over-allotment
option) and the Private Placement to purchase an aggregate of
The following table presents a reconciliation of the numerator and denominator used to compute basic and diluted net income (loss) per share for each class of common stock:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | For the Period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Class A | Class B | |||||||||||||
Basic and diluted net income per common share: | ||||||||||||||||
Numerator: | ||||||||||||||||
Allocation of net income (loss) | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||||||||
Denominator: | ||||||||||||||||
Basic and diluted weighted average common shares outstanding | ||||||||||||||||
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per common share | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
F-13
Income Taxes
The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes” (“ASC 740”), which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for 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. As of December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020, the Company had deferred tax assets with a full valuation allowance against them.
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. As of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, there were no amounts accrued for interest and penalties.
Recent 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 Company adopted ASU 2020-06 on January 1, 2021 using a modified retrospective method for transition. Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
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.
Note 3 - Initial Public Offering
On
November 24, 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 whole 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
December 31, 2020, the Sponsor purchased
F-14
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 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
Each
whole Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole share of Class A common stock at a price of $
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.
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination,
the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s 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
will 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 lender’s discretion, up to $
On
September 10, 2021, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $
F-15
Administrative Services Agreement
The Company entered into an agreement that provided that, commencing
on the effective date of the prospectus through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination and the Company’s
liquidation, the Company shall pay the Sponsor a total of $
The Company’s officers or directors 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 the Company’s or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial Business Combination will be made using funds held outside the Trust Account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such payments, the Company does not expect to have any additional controls in place governing the reimbursement payments to the Company’s directors and officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with identifying and consummating an initial Business Combination.
Note 5 - Commitments and Contingencies
Registration and Stockholder 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), are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the initial Business Combination. 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 $
In
connection with the consummation of the Over-Allotment on November 30, 2020, the underwriters were entitled to an additional fee of $
Note 6 - 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
F-16
The Class A common stock subject to possible redemption reflected on the consolidated balance sheets is reconciled on the following table:
Gross proceeds | $ | |||
Less: | ||||
Proceeds allocated to 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 | $ |
Note 7 - 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
Only holders of the Class B common stock have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to the Business Combination. Holders of Class A common stock and holders of Class B common stock vote together as a single class on all other 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 concurrently with or immediately following the consummation
of the 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 the 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,
F-17
Note 8 - Derivative Warrant Liabilities
Public Warrants may only be exercised 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 or (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 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, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the shares of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of the Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed. If a registration statement covering the shares of 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.
The
warrants have an exercise price of $
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.
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00:
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants for cash:
● | in whole and not in part; | |
● | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; | |
● | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and | |
● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price (the “closing price”) of Class A common stock equals or exceeds |
$18.00 per share (as adjusted) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. Any such exercise would not be on a “cashless” basis and would require the exercising holder to pay the exercise price for each warrant being exercised.
F-18
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00:
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
● | in whole and not in part; | |
● | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants, but only on a cashless basis, prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to an agreed table based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of Class A common stock; | |
● | if, and only if, the closing price of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted) for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending three trading days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; and | |
● | if the closing price of Class A common stock for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted), the Private Placement Warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants, as described above. |
The “fair market value” of Class A common stock for the above purpose shall mean the volume-weighted average price of Class A common stock during the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment).
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 9 - Fair Value Measurements
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques that the Company utilized to determine such fair value.
Fair Value Measured as of 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 - Money Market Fund | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities - Public warrants | ||||||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities - Private placement warrants | ||||||||||||
Total Fair Value | $ | $ | $ |
F-19
Fair Value Measured as of 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 - Money Market Fund | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities - Public warrants | ||||||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities - Private placement warrants | ||||||||||||
Total Fair Value | $ | $ | $ |
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2, and 3 are recognized at the beginning of the reporting period. The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 1 fair value measurement and the estimated fair value of the Private Placement Warrants transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 2 fair value measurement as a result of the Public Warrants being listed price in an active market in March 2021, the closing price of the warrants on NYSE as of March 31, 2021.
Level 1 assets include investments in money market funds that invest solely in U.S. government securities. The Company uses inputs such as actual trade data, quoted market prices from dealers or brokers, and other similar sources to determine the fair value of its investments.
The fair value of Public Warrants and Private Warrants was estimated
at December 31, 2020 using a binomial / lattice model that assumes optimal exercise of the Company’s redemption option, including
the make whole table, at the earliest possible date. The fair value of Public Warrants and Private Warrants was measured by reference
to the listed price in an active market for the Public Warrants, the closing price of the warrants on NYSE as of December 31, 2021. The
Company determined that the fair value of each Private Placement Warrant approximates the fair value of a Public Warrant as the transfer
of Private Placement Warrants to anyone who is not a permitted transferee would result in the Private Placement Warrants having substantially
the same terms as the Public Warrants. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company recognized income to the consolidated statements
of operations resulting from a decrease in the fair value of warrant liabilities of approximately $
Use of a binomial / lattice model to estimate fair value at December 31, 2020 required assumptions related to expected stock-price volatility, expected life, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. The Company estimated the volatility of its Class A common stock warrants based on implied volatility from the Company’s traded warrants and from historical volatility of select peer company’s Class A common stock that matches the expected remaining life of the warrants. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero-coupon yield curve on the grant date for a maturity similar to the expected remaining life of the warrants. The expected life of the warrants is assumed to be equivalent to their remaining contractual term. The dividend rate is based on the historical rate, which the Company anticipates remaining at zero.
The following table provides quantitative information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements inputs for the Company's Private Placement Warrants at their measurement dates:
December 31, 2020 | ||||
Exercise price | $ | |||
Stock price | $ | |||
Term(yrs) | ||||
Volatility | % | |||
Risk-free rate | % |
The change in the fair value of the derivative warrant liabilities, measured with Level 3 inputs, as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 is summarized as follows:
Level 3 derivative warrant liabilities at January 1, 2021 | $ | |||
Transfer of Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants from Level 3: | ( | ) | ||
Level 3 derivative warrant liabilities at December 31, 2021 | $ |
Derivative warrant liabilities at September 9, 2020 (inception) | $ | |||
Issuance of Public and Private Warrants | ||||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | ||||
Derivative warrant liabilities at December 31, 2020 | $ |
F-20
Note 10 - 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. There was no income tax expense 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 from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020:
December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Current | ||||||||
Federal | $ | $ | ||||||
State | ||||||||
Deferred | ||||||||
Federal | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
State | ||||||||
Valuation allowance | ||||||||
Income tax (benefit) provision | $ | $ |
The Company’s net deferred tax assets are as follows as of December 31, 2021 and 2020:
December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Deferred tax assets: | ||||||||
Net-operating loss carryforward | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
Start-up/Organization costs | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
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.
There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2021. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties at December 31, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
A reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate (benefit) to the Company’s effective tax rate (benefit) is as follows for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020:
December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Statutory federal income tax rate | % | % | ||||||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | ( | )% | ( | )% | ||||
Change in valuation allowance | % | ( | )% | |||||
Income Tax Expense | % | % |
Note 11 - Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the consolidated balance sheets date up to the date that the consolidated financial statements were issued. Based on this evaluation, other than as noted below and in Note 1, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the consolidated financial statements.
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. Further, the impact of this action and related sanctions on the world economy are not determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The specific impact on the Company's financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows is also not determinable as of the date of these financial statements.
F-21
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
March 25, 2022
OMNICHANNEL ACQUISITION CORP. | |||
By: | /s/ Matt Higgins | ||
Name: | Matt Higgins | ||
Title: | Chief Executive Officer and Chairman |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated below.
Name | Title | Date | ||
/s/ Matt Higgins | Chief Executive Officer and Chairman | March 25, 2022 | ||
Matt Higgins | (Principal Executive Officer) | |||
/s/ Christine Pantoya | Chief Financial Officer | March 25, 2022 | ||
Christine Pantoya | (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | |||
/s/ Bobbi Brown | Director | March 25, 2022 | ||
Bobbi Brown | ||||
/s/ Albert Carey | Director | March 25, 2022 | ||
Albert Carey | ||||
/s/ Priya Dogra | Director | March 25, 2022 | ||
Priya Dogra | ||||
/s/ Vicky Free | Director | March 25, 2022 | ||
Vicky Free | ||||
/s/ Mark Gerson | Director | March 25, 2022 | ||
Mark Gerson | ||||
/s/ Emmett Shine | Director | March 25, 2022 | ||
Emmett Shine |
49