Aeries Technology, Inc S-1/A, filed Sep 30, 2021
Aeries Technology, Inc. (AERT)
S-1/A
2021-09-30
View Original
Added on
October 22, 2026
As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 29, 2021.
Registration No. 333-259801
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM S-1
AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Cayman Islands
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6770
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98-1587626
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(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization) |
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(Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number) |
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(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number) |
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770 E Technology Way F13-16
Orem, UT 84097
Telephone: (415) 629-9066
Orem, UT 84097
Telephone: (415) 629-9066
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Daniel S. Webb
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
c/o Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp.
770 E Technology Way F13-16
Orem, UT 84097
Telephone: (415) 629-9066
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
c/o Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp.
770 E Technology Way F13-16
Orem, UT 84097
Telephone: (415) 629-9066
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies to:
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Ilir Mujalovic, Esq.
Shearman & Sterling LLP 599 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10022 (212) 848-4000 |
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William B. Nelson, Esq.
Shearman & Sterling LLP Bank of America Tower 800 Capitol Street, Suite 2200 Houston, Texas 77002 (713) 354-4900 |
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Edward F. Petrosky, Esq.
George J. Vlahakos, Esq. Sidley Austin LLP 787 Seventh Avenue New York, New York 10019 (212) 839-5900 |
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Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box: ☐
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| | Large accelerated filer ☐ | | | Accelerated filer ☐ | | | Non-accelerated filer ☒ | | | Smaller reporting company ☒ | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Emerging growth company ☒ | |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
or as to the amount of such units the anchor investors will retain, if any, prior to or upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If the anchor investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, approximately 99.3% of the units sold in this offering will be purchased by the anchor investors, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option. In addition, none of the anchor investors has any obligation to vote all of its public shares in favor of our initial business combination. For a discussion of certain additional arrangements with our anchor investors, see “Summary—The Offering—Expression of Interest.”
Our initial shareholders currently hold 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares (which we refer to as “founder shares” as further described herein), up to 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent (if any) to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities (as described herein), are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in this offering and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which the Class B ordinary shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the sum of all Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon the completion of this offering, plus all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of the Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of the board of directors for any reason in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. On any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, holders of the Class B ordinary shares and holders of the Class A ordinary shares will vote together as a single class, except as required by law.
Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants. We intend to apply to list our units on the Nasdaq Global Market (the “Nasdaq”) under the symbol “WWAC.U” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. We expect the Class A ordinary shares and warrants constituting the units to begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our filing a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) containing our audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering and issuing a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the securities constituting the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “WWAC” and “WWAC.WS,” respectively.
We are an “emerging growth company” and “smaller reporting company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 34 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
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Price to Public
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Underwriting
Discounts and Commissions(1) |
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Proceeds
Before Expenses to Us |
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Per Unit
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| | | $ | 10.00 | | | | | $ | 0.55 | | | | | $ | 9.45 | | |
| Total | | | | $ | 200,000,000 | | | | | $ | 11,000,000 | | | | | $ | 189,000,000 | | |
(1)
Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate, payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein and released to the underwriters only upon completion of the initial business combination. Does not include certain fees and expenses of the underwriters in connection with this offering we have agreed to pay. See also “Underwriting” for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters.
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $202.0 million or $232.3 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.10 per unit), will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the funds held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow
redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders.
The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. Delivery of the units will be made on or about , 2021.
Neither the SEC nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
No invitation, whether directly or indirectly, may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for our securities.
Book-Running Managers
BofA SecuritiesJ.P. Morgan
The date of this prospectus is , 2021.
We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus. We and the underwriters take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the units offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus is current only as of its date.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Until , 2021, all dealers that effect transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to unsold allotments or subscriptions.
Trademarks
This prospectus contains references to trademarks and service marks belonging to other entities. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this prospectus may appear without the ® or TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that the applicable licensor will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, its rights to these trademarks and trade names. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trade names, trademarks or service marks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies.
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SUMMARY
This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:
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“we,” “us,” “our” or our “company” are to Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company;
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“amended and restated memorandum and articles of association” are to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to be in effect upon completion of this offering;
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“anchor investors” are to eleven qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors (none of which are affiliated with any member of our management team, our sponsor, our board of directors or, to our knowledge, any other anchor investor and will not be so affiliated prior to their receipt of founder shares in connection with their investments in us, if any) that have collectively expressed to us an interest in purchasing an aggregate of $198.6 million of units in this offering, as further described herein, and to the extent such purchases are made, will acquire founder shares at the closing of this offering;
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“Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time;
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“completion window” is the period following the completion of this offering at the end of which, if we have not completed our initial business combination, we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions and as further described herein. The completion window ends 18 months from the closing of this offering, or such other time period in which we must consummate an initial business combination pursuant to an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
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“directors” are to our current directors and our director nominees named in this prospectus;
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“founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering and our Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon conversion thereof as provided therein;
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“initial shareholders” are to our sponsor and any other holders of our founder shares (other than the anchor investors) prior to this offering (including any permitted transferees);
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“letter agreement” refer to the letter agreement, the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part;
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“management” or our “management team” are to our directors and officers;
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“officers” are to one or more of our officers;
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“ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares;
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“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering;
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“public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor, directors and officers to the extent our sponsor, directors or officers purchase public shares, provided their status as a “public shareholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;
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“public shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market);
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“sponsor” are to Worldwide Webb Acquisition Sponsor, LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company;
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“warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market).
All references in this prospectus to shares of the company being forfeited shall take effect as surrenders for no consideration of such shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. All references to the conversion of our Class B ordinary shares shall take effect as a redemption of such Class B ordinary shares and issuance of the corresponding Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any share dividends described in this prospectus shall take effect as share capitalizations as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsor of 750,000 founder shares.
General
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. is a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated on March 5, 2021 as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities as well as activities related to this offering. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.
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.
We intend to focus our efforts on seeking and completing an initial business combination with a company that has an enterprise value of over $750 million. Our objective is to identify and accelerate a market-leading, differentiated internet company within our target sectors of interest, including direct-to-consumer brands, Amazon centric, online marketplaces, food tech, new media, digital health, software-as-a-service, fin tech, and any adjacent industries undergoing technology-driven transformations, that offer high-quality revenue streams and attractive organic and inorganic growth opportunities. Per McKinsey & Company, COVID-19 is transforming consumer lives and has resulted in a “decade in days” when it comes to the adoption to digital. We estimate that this shift has created a cohort of hundreds of companies that are now at scale to operate as a public company and that would have otherwise been one to five years away from accessing public markets. We believe Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. can accelerate a potential target’s ability to pursue the public markets, as well as potentially reduce the risk and time commitment associated with a public listing. There has also been recent significant demand for public investors to access these uniquely positioned companies, illustrated by aggregate technology Special Purpose Acquisition Company (“SPAC”) transaction volume of over $75 billion from 2018 to September 3, 2021.
We believe that the operational and execution capabilities of our combined team will make us an attractive partner to potential target businesses, enhance our ability to complete a successful business combination, and bring compelling value to shareholders post-business combination. We believe these capabilities were clearly demonstrated in Tony and Terry Pearce’s successful founding of Purple Innovation Inc. (“Purple”), their subsequent transaction with a SPAC, their significant work with Purple since the closing of the merger, and their successful exit from Purple. Our capabilities are further demonstrated by Daniel Webb’s deal experience advising the top technology companies in the world, including Microsoft, Snap, Carvana, Pinterest, Delivery Hero, Just Eat Takeaway, Fiverr, Grubhub, Credit Karma, Cardlytics, Purple, Revolve, and Paytm among many others. Our team has accumulated robust experience, through which we can provide a business with the opportunity to accelerate its growth and create significant value to shareholders.
Our Sponsor’s SPAC Experience at Purple
Tony and Terry Pearce have a well-informed perspective as SPAC sponsors and advisors to potential targets given their prior company, Purple, went public through a SPAC in February 2018. From
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launch in 2016 to their exit in August 2020, Tony and Terry dramatically grew and scaled Purple to a company that generated $648.5 million of net revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Purple is a leading comfort technology and direct-to-consumer mattress company that leverages its operational and innovation expertise to design and sell a branded portfolio of patented comfort products. Purple officially launched on January 22, 2016 with its viral “Goldilocks” commercial after a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign in September 2015. Purple has generated substantial value having grown to a market capitalization of $1.5 billion, as of September 17, 2021. Purple’s Class A common stock is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol “PRPL”.
Through Tony and Terry’s leadership, vision, and innovation, Purple grew its revenues substantially and achieved profitability. Based on Purple’s publicly reported financial information, for the 12 months ended December 31, 2020, Purple’s net revenue increased 51.4%, to $648.5 million, compared with net revenue of $428.4 million for the 12 months ended December 31, 2019. For the three-year period ending December 31, 2020, Purple’s net revenue increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.8%. As of September 17, 2021, the market price of Purple’s common stock was $22.57.
Our Management Team and Board of Directors
Tony Pearce is our Executive Chairman and a Director. Mr. Pearce was a co-founder of Purple Innovation, LLC. He led Purple’s early entry into premium, direct-to-consumer products and built the company into one of the top eCommerce companies in the world. He served as the Co-CEO of Purple from its inception in 2010 as WonderGel, LLC through its meteoric launch in 2016, taking it public through a SPAC in February 2018. Together with his brother Terry Pearce, Mr. Pearce also served as Co-Director of Research & Development at Purple from 2016 to August 19, 2020, including during an 18-month period of time ending on January 29, 2019, when he was also voluntarily providing charitable service out of the country. Prior to founding Purple, Mr. Pearce was a manager of various technology companies owned by Mr. Pearce and his brother Terry Pearce, including EdiZONE, LLC, which focuses on developing advanced cushioning technology. From April 2020 until April 2021, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Brilliant Science LLC, an early-stage direct-to-consumer health and wellness company. Mr. Pearce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.
Terry Pearce is our Executive Vice Chairman and a Director. Mr. Pearce was a co-founder of Purple Innovation, LLC and served as Co-CEO of Purple from its inception in 2010 as WonderGel, LLC through its meteoric launch in 2016, taking it public through a SPAC in February 2018. Together with his brother Tony Pearce, Mr. Pearce also served as Co-Director of Research & Development at Purple from 2016 to August 19, 2020, including a period of time in 2018 when he also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer following the resignation of the company’s former Chief Executive Officer on March 13, 2018, and until Joseph Megibow joined the company as its Chief Executive Officer on October 1, 2018. Prior to founding Purple, Mr. Pearce was a manager of various technology companies owned by Mr. Pearce and his brother Tony Pearce, including EdiZONE, LLC, which focuses on developing advanced cushioning technology. Mr. Pearce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Utah.
Daniel Webb is our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and a Director. Mr. Webb was previously a technology investment banker and private equity investor having worked on transactions totaling approximately $40 billion in transaction value for disruptive internet companies. In his career as an investment banker at Bank of America and Citi, he advised leading technology companies on their IPOs such as Snap, Carvana, Pinterest, Delivery Hero, Arista Networks, Freescale Semiconductor, Fiverr, Grubhub, Cardlytics, Revolve, SurveyMonkey, Zulily, and Trivago. He also helped raise public and private capital for leading technology companies such as Microsoft, Pinterest, Costar, Thrasio, Fiverr, Fanatics, Grubhub, Cardlytics, Overstock, MakeMyTrip, Purple, GSV Capital, Paytm, Integral Ad Science, and Thrillist. In addition, he advised on one of the largest internet acquisitions in history, Just Eat Takeaway’s acquisition of Grubhub as well as other transactions such as Credit Karma’s sale to Intuit, Cardlytics’ acquisition of Dosh, Bonobos’ sale to Walmart, Reachlocal’s sale to Gannett, and Aristocrat Leisure’s acquisition of Plarium. Mr. Webb previously worked in private equity at HarbourVest Partners where he directed investments in Lightower Fiber Networks, Sidera Networks, and Confie Seguros. Mr. Webb holds a Master of Accountancy and Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Brigham Young University.
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Lynne Laube is an Independent Director. Ms. Laube is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Cardlytics, and has been a member of the Board of Directors since the company was founded in 2008. Prior to her appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Cardlytics in 2020, Ms. Laube served as Chief Operating Officer. From 1994 to 2008, Ms. Laube held various positions at Capital One, including as a Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Capital One Payments. Ms. Laube started her career at Bank One Corporation, where she specialized in operations analysis. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for NerdWallet. Ms. Laube holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Marketing from University of Cincinnati’s College of Business and is a graduate of Darden’s Executive Leadership program from the University of Virginia.
Tanner Ainge is an Independent Director. Mr. Ainge is the Managing Partner of Banner Ventures, a private investment firm where his primary responsibilities include sourcing, underwriting, and overseeing a portfolio of private equity and growth-stage investments on behalf of a close-knit group of family offices and successful entrepreneurs. He also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Banner Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: BNNR). He most recently co-led a $52 million investment into Pattern, Inc. (“Pattern”), a rapidly growing provider of global e-Commerce solutions. From July 2018 to March 2020, Mr. Ainge led the mergers and acquisitions strategy for Outbox Systems, Inc. (d.b.a. “Simplus”), a Salesforce implementation partner and information technology company, including acquisitions in Europe and Asia and eventual merger of Simplus with Infosys Limited. (“Infosys Ltd”; NYSE: INFY) in March 2020. From July 2013 to August 2015, Mr. Ainge served as an executive of Ensign, where he managed the company’s acquisition pipeline and process, and then served as General Counsel of CareTrust REIT following its spin-off from Ensign. Mr. Ainge began his career in mergers and acquisitions with private equity firm HGGC LLC and later with the global law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He is also a judge advocate in the Utah National Guard and was appointed to the Governor’s Economic Development Board for the State of Utah in 2021. Mr. Ainge received a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Brigham Young University and a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law.
Dave Crowder is an Independent Director. Mr. Crowder is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Section Partners, a growth-stage venture capital firm providing personal financing solutions to founders, executives, and shareholders of venture-backed technology companies. Previously, Mr. Crowder served as Partner of GSV Asset Management, LLC and as executive officer of GSV Capital, a publicly traded late-stage venture capital fund. Prior to GSV Capital Dave was a General Partner of Thomas Weisel Venture Partners. Mr. Crowder began his career in investment banking at Montgomery Securities and Goldman Sachs. He is also a former Adjunct Professor of the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Utah and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Davis Smith is an Independent Director. Mr. Smith is the founder and CEO of Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear brand with a humanitarian mission backed by Bain Capital. He is a member of the United Nations Foundation’s Global Leadership Council and a Presidential Leadership Scholar. Mr. Smith previously started Brazil’s “Startup of the Year,” was Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s “CEO of the Year,” and is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Smith holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School, a Master of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University.
We believe that our industry expertise and relationships will help us identify a substantial number of attractive potential business combination opportunities and allow us to add significant value to our potential target companies.
Business Strategy
The Worldwide Internet Market Opportunity
The internet sector has created substantial value for investors over the past two decades. The acceleration of global digitalization and the shifting of consumer preferences to discover, communicate, learn, be entertained, and transact from their mobile devices are reinforcing the critical nature and resiliency of businesses in the internet sector. Internet companies continue to disrupt traditional industries at an unprecedented pace and in ways that were not previously possible by taking advantage of new technologies
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to drive efficiency, transparency, and discovery. In addition, the proliferation of cloud technologies is enabling these businesses to scale faster and at lower costs than ever before. As internet companies change the way traditional business is done, they are positioned to benefit from significant value creation; however, thus far, the preponderance of that value creation has been captured by the private markets.
Industry trends are converging to increase both the size of individual investments and also the number of potential internet investment opportunities. The recent shift to online as a result of COVID-19 has allowed new entrants to grow extremely rapidly and gain scale and attractive unit economics earlier in their company lifecycles. Acquisitions have also allowed internet companies to gain additional revenue, customers, products, and services, all while avoiding some or most of the operating costs associated with integration. We believe that these trends will result in significant potential attractive investment opportunities and that we are well-positioned to facilitate taking such companies public.
There are significant benefits to companies being publicly traded during their growth stage, including having access to capital markets, having publicly traded stock as currency for potential acquisitions and to use to attract and retain talent, as well as increased brand awareness. We believe that an initial business combination with a blank check company such as ours provides an attractive mechanism for going public. An initial business combination with Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. would provide a potential target company with several benefits, including:
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A valuable and collaborative partnership with a strong sponsor team that has successfully experienced the full lifecycle of founding a company and going public through a SPAC
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Structural flexibility and greater certainty of close and a successful transaction
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A faster route to public markets with reduced management distraction, risks, and time commitment
Although we intend to execute a business combination with a company in the internet sector, the above industry overview is not intended to be exhaustive, and we reserve the right to enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not necessarily fit precisely within the boundaries of the internet sector. We believe that our management team is also well situated to evaluate potential targets in the broader technology space and we may also consider a business combination with such entities. Ultimately, we will be guided by our business strategy, acquisition criteria, experience, and expertise in identifying exceptional candidates that provide a compelling business opportunity for our company.
Our Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and complete a business combination that creates value for our shareholders. We believe our team is well positioned to successfully identify attractive opportunities as we plan to leverage our sponsor team’s prior experiences, track records, and extensive relationship networks.
Our sponsor team’s expertise in internet companies in our target sectors of interest, including direct-to-consumer-brands, Amazon centric, online marketplaces, food tech, new media, digital health, software-as-a-service, fin tech, and adjacent industries undergoing technology-driven transformations, positions us well to source, execute, and add value to companies in these sectors. We intend to leverage our experience with digital disruption, marketing, supply chain management, and product development, as well as our demonstrated ability to work with companies to drive profitable growth.
We believe the combined team possesses the core characteristics required for a successful SPAC team. Our combined team is a mix of what we view to be successful dealmakers and successful founders and operators, with experience across multiple deal types, and as founders of variety of businesses in the internet sector. We believe we have built a meaningful proprietary deal-sourcing network that will help us source deals that other investors cannot. We also have what we believe is a strong track record of value creation, both as founders and advisors. Our network and current affiliations across the team will allow us to lean heavily on existing relationships to find proprietary deal flow. We also intend to leverage our network of third-party advisors, as needed.
Our sourcing and acquisition selection process will leverage our sponsor team’s deep, broad, and trusted network of founders, executives, venture capitalists, private equity sponsors, investment bankers,
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lending community relationships, and relationships with private companies. We believe that our value-added approach, and ability to work with strategic partners within our network will position us as an attractive business combination target to many potential merger targets. Furthermore, the experience of members of our team in founding Purple and taking it public through a SPAC will further differentiate us from the other vehicles in the market and allow a potential target to benefit from our team’s prior experience to maximize the target’s value proposition. We also believe this should provide us with a breadth of business combination opportunities, typically outside of broad auction processes.
We believe our sponsor team’s experience founding and operating internet companies, along with its history of advising world-class management teams, successfully capturing operating improvement opportunities, strengthening marketing, increasing revenue generation, and enhancing investor positioning for leading internet companies will be appealing to company management teams and boards that are seeking opportunities to assume leadership in their sector.
Initial Business Combination Criteria
We have identified the following attributes and guidelines to evaluate prospective target businesses. We may decide, however, to enter into our initial business combination with one or more businesses that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to pursue an initial business combination with companies that have the following characteristics:
•
Market Leading Platform with Differentiated Product Offering: We intend to seek business combination targets that have a leading market position and significant barriers to entry through brand value, innovative technology, large and loyal customer bases, and differentiated products or services. We believe a leadership position affords a company the opportunity to drive outcomes for their market and more easily capture the mindshare of customers.
•
Large and Addressable Market with a Sustainable Growth Opportunity: The internet sector is home to many high-growth companies benefitting from the rapid pace of digital transformations. We will seek business combination targets that are successfully capturing market share in a large addressable market with significant future opportunity and tailwinds. We will focus on those companies for which rapid growth and customer adoption is fueled by their compelling value proposition versus those for whom growth is derived primarily from significant marketing spend.
•
Attractive Unit Economics: We will seek to partner with business combination targets that have a strong performance track-record, supported by robust unit economics, and the ability to sustain significant growth while achieving strong profitability over time.
•
Data Directed Decision Making: We will seek to identify businesses for whom data is core to their decision-making processes and is consistently used for operational and strategic judgments and to track business performance.
•
Purpose-Driven with High Ethical Standards: We believe consumers and companies will continue to shift spending to companies that are purpose-driven and have high ethical standards. We will seek a business combination targets that are purpose-driven, sustainable, and environmentally friendly, as well as a management team that leads and builds their business with the highest standards of ethics and integrity.
•
Visionary Management Team with Proven Track Record: We will seek business combination targets with a management team that has a track record of delivering strong performance and is passionate about the opportunity and relentless in their desire to build a large and meaningful business. We intend to work as long-term partners with our prospective target company while building a successful business combination.
•
Sensible Valuation: We have a deep understanding of private valuations and will aim to negotiate terms that will provide significant upside potential while limiting downside risk.
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as on
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other considerations, factors, and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the SEC.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a potential target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review to seek to determine a company’s quality and its intrinsic value. That due diligence review may include, among other things, financial statement analysis, detailed document reviews, multiple meetings with management (which may be virtual or in-person), consultations with relevant industry experts, competitors, customers, and suppliers, as well as a review of additional financial and other information that we will seek to obtain as part of our analysis of a target company.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors or any of their affiliates. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA, or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Members of our management team, including our officers and directors, will directly or indirectly own our securities following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target company is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors, as well as our management team, may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers, directors, and management team members was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to such business combination.
We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly, or indirectly, with any business combination target.
Each of our directors, director nominees, and officers 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. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has a then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Members of our board of directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Our sponsor and members of our board of directors acquired founder shares for approximately $0.004 per share and we are offering units at a price of $10.00 per unit in this offering; as a result, our sponsor and members of our board of directors could make a substantial profit after the initial business combination even if public investors experience substantial losses and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. See “Risk Factors—The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may significantly dilute the implied value of your public shares in the event we consummate an initial business combination, and our sponsor is likely to make a substantial profit on its investment in us in the event we consummate an initial business combination, even if the business combination causes the trading price of our ordinary shares to materially decline.” and “—Since our initial
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shareholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.”
Initial Business Combination
The rules of Nasdaq require our initial business combination to occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). We refer to this as the 80% of net assets test. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding 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 shareholders 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 issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-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 issued and outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target business or issue a substantial number of new shares to third-parties in connection with financing our initial business combination. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If our initial 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. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net assets test.
We will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
Other Corporate Information
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval
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of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by non- affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second quarter and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in nonconvertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies wishing to conduct business outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and have received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall be payable (1) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (2) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company incorporated on March 5, 2021. Our executive offices are located at 770 E Technology Way F13-16, Orem, UT 84097 and our telephone number is (415) 629-9066. Upon completion of this offering, our corporate website address will be wwac1.com. Our website and the information contained on, or that can be accessed through, the website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and is not considered part of, this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You should not rely on any such information in making your decision whether to invest in our securities.
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THE OFFERING
In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled “Risk Factors” of this prospectus.
Securities offered
20,000,000 units (or 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:
•
one Class A ordinary share; and
•
one-half of one redeemable warrant.
Proposed Nasdaq symbols
Units: “WWAC.U”
Class A ordinary shares: “WWAC”
Warrants: “WWAC.WS”
Trading commencement and separation of Class A ordinary shares and warrants
The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants constituting the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the Class A ordinary shares and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination.
Separate trading of the Class A ordinary shares and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on
Form 8-K
Form 8-K
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes our audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial
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information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
Units:
Number issued and outstanding before this offering
0
Number issued and outstanding after this offering
20,000,000(1)
Ordinary shares:
Number issued and outstanding before this offering
5,750,000(2)(3)
Number issued and outstanding after this offering
25,000,000(1)(3)(4)
Warrants:
Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering
8,000,000(1)
Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the sale of private placement warrants
18,000,000(1)
Exercisability
Each whole warrant offered in this offering is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share, subject to adjustment as provided herein, and only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade.
We structured each unit to contain one-half of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, as compared to units issued by some other similar blank check companies which contain whole warrants exercisable for one whole share. We did this to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of our initial business combination as compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, in order to make us a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses.
Exercise price
$11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein.
In addition, if (x) we issue additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of
1
Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and, if applicable, the forfeiture by our sponsor of 750,000 founder shares.
2
Consists solely of founder shares and includes up to 750,000 ordinary shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent (if any) to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.
3
Founder shares are currently classified as Class B ordinary shares, which shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”
4
Includes 20,000,000 public shares and 5,000,000 founder shares.
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our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described below under “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” and “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described below under “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
Exercise period
The warrants will become exercisable on the later of:
•
30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; and
•
12 months from the closing of this offering;
provided, in each case, that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement, including as a result of a notice of redemption described below under “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”).
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed (and if such registration
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statement is not effective by that date, holders of the warrants will be permitted to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis”); provided that if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.
Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):
•
in whole and not in part;
•
at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
•
upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and
•
if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”).
We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Except as described below, none of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds
$10.00
$10.00
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants:
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•
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 on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive the number of shares determined by reference to the table set forth under “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants” based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A ordinary shares (as defined below) except as otherwise described in “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants”;
•
if, and only if, the Reference Value (as defined above under “—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00”) 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 as described under the heading “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”); and
•
if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”), the private placement warrants must also concurrently be called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants, as described above.
The “fair market value” of our Class A ordinary shares for the above purpose shall mean the volume weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in other blank check offerings. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the 10-trading day period described above ends. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
No fractional Class A ordinary shares will be issued upon redemption. If, upon redemption, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the holder. Please see the section entitled “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants” for additional information.
Expression of Interest
The anchor investors (none of which are affiliated with any member of our management team, our sponsor, our board of directors or, to our knowledge, any other anchor investor and will not be so affiliated prior to receipt of founder shares in connection with their investments in us, if any) have expressed to us an interest in purchasing an aggregate of $198.6 million of the units in this offering at the offering price, and we have agreed to direct the underwriters to offer to the anchor investors up to such number of units and no more than 9.9% of the units in this offering per anchor investor. Further, each of the anchor investors is expected to enter into a separate agreement with our sponsor pursuant
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to which, subject to the conditions set forth therein, each such investor will agree to purchase 125,000 founder shares if the investor commits to purchase 9.9% of the units in this offering (93,750 founder shares if the investor acquires 7.5% of the units in this offering), in each case for $0.005 per share. The obligation of our sponsor to sell founder shares to each anchor investor is conditioned upon each such anchor investor purchasing all of the units in this offering, if any, it may be offered by the underwriters (which shall not exceed 9.9% of the units in this offering). The negotiations between our sponsor and each anchor investor were separate.
The anchor investors have not been granted any shareholder or other rights in addition to those afforded to our other public shareholders, and will only be sold founder shares subject to the same restrictions on transfer as are the founder shares owned by the Sponsor. The anchor investors will be obligated to vote their founder shares in favor of our initial business combination. However, unlike some anchor investor arrangements of other blank check companies, the anchor investors are not required to (i) hold any units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants they may purchase in this offering or thereafter for any amount of time or (ii) vote any Class A ordinary shares they may own at the applicable time in favor of our initial business combination. The anchor investors will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the units they may purchase in this offering as the rights afforded to our other public shareholders. There can be no assurance that the anchor investors will acquire any units in this offering, or as to the amount of such units the anchor investors will retain, if any, prior to or upon the consummation of our initial business combination. In the event that the anchor investors purchase such units (either in this offering or after) and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, no affirmative votes from other public shareholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, because our anchor investors are not obligated to continue owning any public shares following the closing, we cannot assure you that any of these anchor investors will be shareholders at the time our shareholders vote on our initial business combination. However, because our anchor investors are not obligated to continue owning any public shares following the closing and are not obligated to vote any public shares in favor of our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that any of these anchor investors will be shareholders at the time our shareholders vote on our initial business combination, and, if they are shareholders, we cannot assure you as to how such anchor investors will vote on any business combination.
Founder shares
In March 2021, our sponsor subscribed for an aggregate of 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On September 17, 2021, our sponsor effected a surrender of 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the company for no consideration, resulting in a decrease in the number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding from 8,625,000 to 5,750,000, such that the total number of founder shares would represent 20% of the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of this offering (of which 750,000 Class B ordinary shares are subject to forfeiture if the underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option).
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Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of these founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to us by the number of founder shares issued. Our initial shareholders and anchor investors will collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a capitalization, share dividend, share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 750,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent (if any) to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. In addition, if all of the anchor investors acquire all of the units for which they have indicated an interest, the anchor investors will acquire 1,250,000 of the founder shares from the Sponsor. Any founder shares acquired by the anchor investors will be subject to the same rights and limitations on transfer and redemption as are the founder shares held by the sponsor.
The founder shares are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, except that:
•
prior to our initial business combination, only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason;
•
the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, contained in a letter agreement that our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into with us, as described in more detail below;
•
pursuant to such letter agreement, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive: (1) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination; (2) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame). If we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders, directors and
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officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote any founder shares and public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. In addition, our anchor investors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), to vote their founder shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ and anchor investors’ founder shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 1,250,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have such initial business combination approved;
•
the founder shares will automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described in more detail below; and
•
the founder shares are entitled to registration rights.
Transfer restrictions on founder shares
Pursuant to a letter agreement with us, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, amalgamation, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property (except with respect to permitted pledges and permitted transferees and under certain circumstances as described herein under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders, directors and officers with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.
Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights
We have 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, issued and outstanding. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in this offering and related to the
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closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which the Class B ordinary shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of all ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon the completion of this offering plus all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in our initial business combination. The term “equity-linked securities” refers to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for our Class A ordinary shares issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt.
Appointment of directors; Voting rights
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares who attend and vote in a general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.
Private placement warrants
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 8,000,000 private placement warrants (or 8,900,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($8,000,000 in the aggregate or $8,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
Each private placement warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Private placement warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us (except as described above under “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”) so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement
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warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. Our sponsor, as well as its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis.
Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except as described herein under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.”
Proceeds to be held in trust account
The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the $208.0 million in proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, or $238.9 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, $202.0 million ($10.10 per unit), or $232.3 million ($10.10 per unit) if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full (including $7,000,000, or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, in deferred underwriting commissions), will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $2.0 million will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering. Up to $0.105 per unit, or up to $2,100,000 (or $2,415,000) if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), of such amount may instead be paid, at our sole discretion, to third parties not participating in this offering (but are FINRA members) that assist us in consummating our initial business combination. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries.
Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the funds held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders.
Anticipated expenses and funding sources
Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except
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the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes or to redeem our public shares in connection with an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, as described above. Based upon current interest rates, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $200,000 of interest annually (assuming an interest rate of 0.10% per year). Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from:
•
the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $1,400,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $600,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and
•
any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their respective affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to loan funds to, or otherwise invest in, us; and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination.
Conditions to completing our initial business
combination
combination
We will have up to 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. We may, however, hold a shareholder vote at any time to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to modify the amount of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination (as well as to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within the time periods described herein or with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity). As described herein, our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed that they will not propose any such amendment unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein.
If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in each case, to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
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There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. The Nasdaq rules require our initial business combination to occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net assets test. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.
If our board of directors is not able independently to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial business combination transaction. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-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; provided that in the event that our initial 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.
Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Any such price per share may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective
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affiliates are under no obligation or duty to do so and they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such purchases or other transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or other transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions. Such persons will be subject to restrictions in making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will select which shareholders to enter into private transactions with.
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. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from making any purchases if such purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.
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 shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares 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.
Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business
combination
combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein.
The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors
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who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Manner of conducting redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (1) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (2) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless shareholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
•
conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and
•
file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until
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the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, we will:
•
conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and
•
file proxy materials with the SEC.
We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a preliminary proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any shareholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our Nasdaq listing or Exchange Act registration.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. We expect that at the time of any shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, anchor investors and their permitted transferees will own at least 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon. These voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial shareholders, anchor investors, directors and officers, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions. Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination.
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For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event we cannot meet any such net tangible asset test or the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all public shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights
We may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve our initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares.
Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold shareholder vote
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a
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business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those shareholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination.
Redemption rights in connection with proposed amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charters which prohibits the amendment of certain charter provisions. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions (other than amendments relating to provisions governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, which require the approval of a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in a general meeting), including those related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances), may be amended if approved by holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote in a general meeting, 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 ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders, who will beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Our initial shareholders and anchor investors, officers and directors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (and their
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permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination
On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be disbursed directly by the trustee or released to us to pay amounts due to any public shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination,” to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or the redemption of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account following the closing for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business
combination
combination
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we will initially have only the completion window to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame.
Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our initial shareholders, directors or
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officers acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.
Our initial shareholders, officers and directors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions.
Limited payments to
insiders
insiders
There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made by us to our sponsor, directors or officers, or our or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:
•
repayment of an aggregate of up to $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;
•
payment to affiliates of our sponsor of a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial, administrative and support services;
•
payment of customary fees for financial advisory services;
•
reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and
•
repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our directors and officers to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender.
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These payments may be funded using the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account or, upon completion of the initial business combination, from any amounts remaining from the proceeds of the trust account released to us in connection therewith.
Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, directors or officers, or our or any of their respective affiliates.
Audit committee
Prior to the effectiveness of this registration statement, we will have established and will maintain an audit committee comprised entirely of independent directors to, among other things, monitor compliance with the terms described above and the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to promptly take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section entitled “Management—Committees of the Board of Directors—Audit Committee.”
Conflicts of interest
Our directors may owe competing duties to other enterprises, and opportunities presented to them they may not present to us as a result of such conflicts. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
If any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for another entity to which they owe fiduciary duties, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. See “Risk Factors—Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
Indemnity
Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent auditors) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.10 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity
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obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations.
Risks
We are a newly incorporated company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues to date. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 26 of this prospectus.
Risk Factors Summary
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus before making a decision to purchase 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. These risks are more fully described in the section titled “Risk Factors” immediately following this risk factors summary. These risks include, among others, the following:
•
We are a newly incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
•
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
•
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination.
•
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 shareholder approval of such business combination.
•
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and other events and the status of debt and equity markets.
•
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
•
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares and/or warrants, potentially at a loss.
•
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
•
Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
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•
You will not be entitled to protections, such as under Rule 419, normally afforded to investors of other blank check companies.
•
If the funds not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the completion window, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
•
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
•
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
•
The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
•
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination. Our public shareholders will not have the right to appoint or remove directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
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We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
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Because we are not limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic area or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
•
Past performance by our management team, 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.
•
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.
•
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm regarding fairness. Consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
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We are dependent upon our directors and officers and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.
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Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
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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.
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Our initial shareholders and anchor investors will control the appointment of our board of directors until consummation of our initial business combination and will hold a substantial
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interest in us. As a result, they will appoint all of our directors prior to our initial business combination and may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
•
Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution upon the purchase of our Class A ordinary shares.
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We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
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Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. Federal courts may be limited.
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SUMMARY FINANCIAL DATA
The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.
| | | |
June 30, 2021
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| |||||||||
| | | |
Actual
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| |
As Adjusted(6)
|
| ||||||
| Balance Sheet Data: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Working Capital (deficiency)(1)
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| | | | (598,278) | | | | | | 180,017,499 | | |
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Total Assets(2)
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| | | | 636,692 | | | | | | 203,393,899 | | |
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Total Liabilities(3)
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| | | | 642,793 | | | | | | 23,376,400 | | |
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Value of Class A ordinary shares that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination ($10.10 per share)(4)
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| | | | — | | | | | | 202,000,000 | | |
|
Shareholder (deficit) equity(5)
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| | | | (6,101) | | | | | | (21,982,501) | | |
(1)
The “as adjusted” calculation includes $202,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $1,400,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus ($6,101) of actual shareholder deficit at June 30, 2021, plus (16,376,400) of derivative warrant liability, less $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions.
(2)
The “as adjusted” calculation equals $202,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $1,400,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus ($6,101) of actual shareholders’ deficit at June 30, 2021.
(3)
The “as adjusted” calculation includes $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions and $16,376,400 of derivative warrant liability.
(4)
The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the “as adjusted” shareholders’ equity.
(5)
Excludes 20,000,000 Class A ordinary shares purchased in the public market which are subject to redemption in connection with our initial business combination. The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the value of ordinary shares that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination (approximately $10.10 per share).
(6)
Assumes the full forfeiture of 750,000 shares of Class B ordinary shares that are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.
If no business combination is completed within the period to consummate the initial business combination, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our sponsor, directors and each member of our management team have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we do not complete our initial business combination within such 24 month time period.
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RISK FACTORS
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
We are a newly incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a newly incorporated company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
As of June 30, 2021, we had cash of $44,515 and an accumulated deficit of $31,101. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Our plans to raise capital and to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such a vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may not hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange rules or if we decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, the rules of Nasdaq currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a general meeting, but would still require us to obtain shareholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding shares, we would seek shareholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval and such holders have agreed to vote in favor of our proposed business combination. Even if we seek shareholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we consummate. Please see the section entitled “Proposed Business—Shareholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination” for additional information.
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If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, anchor investors, directors and officers have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of agreements entered into with us, to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. In addition, our anchor investors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), to vote their founder shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ and anchor investors’ founder shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 1,250,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have such initial business combination approved. Our directors and officers have also entered into the letter agreement, imposing similar obligations on them with respect to public shares acquired by them, if any. We expect that our initial shareholders, anchor investors and their permitted transferees will own at least 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares at the time of any such shareholder vote. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary shareholder approval will be received than would be the case if such persons agreed to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public shareholders. In addition, in the event that our anchor investors purchase all of the $198.6 million of units that they have collectively expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, no affirmative votes from other public shareholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, because our anchor investors are not obligated to continue owning any public shares following the closing and are not obligated to vote any public shares in favor of our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that any of these anchor investors will be shareholders at the time our shareholders vote on our initial business combination, and, if they are shareholders, we cannot assure you as to how such anchor investors will vote on any business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. Any such price per share may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates are under no obligation or duty to do so and they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such purchases or other transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or other 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 shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will select which shareholders to enter into private transactions with. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of our initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of our initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires
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us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. This may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
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 shareholder approval of such business combination.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Additionally, since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder approval. Accordingly, if we do not seek shareholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, which may include acting as M&A advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriters are entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that will be released from the trust account only upon a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing M&A advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing transactions. We may pay such underwriter or its affiliate fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with any of the underwriters or their respective affiliates and no fees or other compensation for such services will be paid to any of the underwriters or their respective affiliates prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with this offering. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The underwriters’ or their respective affiliates’ financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm regarding fairness. Consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
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We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association do not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all public shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
Our initial shareholders and anchor investors will own 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares immediately following the completion of this offering (assuming our initial shareholders do not purchase any units in this offering). If the anchor investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, approximately 99.3% of the units sold in this offering will be purchased by the anchor investors, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option. Our initial shareholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and anchor investors’, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 1,250,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have such initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders, anchor investors and management team to vote their founder shares in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive an ordinary resolution, being the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a business combination and such amount of deferred underwriting discount is not available for us to use as consideration in an initial business combination. If we are able to consummate an initial business combination, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming shareholders will reflect our obligation to pay and the payment of the deferred underwriting commissions. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such
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greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target). Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights and, therefore, we will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third-party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B ordinary shares results in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares 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 shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and, after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful increases. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
Because our trust account is expected to contain approximately $10.10 per Class A ordinary share at the time of our initial business combination, our anchor investors and other public shareholders may be more incentivized to redeem their public shares at the time of our initial business combination.
Our trust account will initially contain $10.10 per Class A ordinary share. This is different than some other similarly structured blank check companies for which the trust account will only contain $10.00 per Class A ordinary share. As a result of the additional funds receivable by public shareholders upon redemption of public shares, our anchor investors and other public shareholders may be more incentivized to redeem their public shares.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within the completion
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window . Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the end of the completion window. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and other events and the status of debt and equity markets.
Since it was first reported to have emerged in December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, has spread across the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.” The COVID-19 outbreak has adversely affected, and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) could adversely affect economies and financial markets worldwide, business operations and the conduct of commerce generally, and the business of any potential target business with which we may consummate a business combination could be, or may already have been, materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or limit the ability to conduct due diligence, or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for and ability to consummate a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of and perceptions to COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) 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 (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases), including as a result of increased market volatility and decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Finally, the outbreak of COVID-19 or other infectious diseases may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, more effort and more resources to identify a suitable target and to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive
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fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause target companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders 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 shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
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 shareholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to 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.
In addition, we expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, in the event we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we are obligated to pay cash for our Class A
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ordinary shares that are submitted for redemption, this cash payment will potentially reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share” and other risk factors herein.
If the funds not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the completion window, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the completion window, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering and potential loans from certain of our affiliates are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” However, our affiliates are not obligated to make loans to us in the future, and we may not be able to raise additional financing from unaffiliated parties necessary to fund our expenses. Any such event in the future may negatively impact the analysis regarding our ability to continue as a going concern at such time.
We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the completion window; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we may depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $1,400,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements.
In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $600,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $600,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their respective affiliates is under any obligation to loan funds to, or otherwise invest in, us in such circumstances. Any such loans may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination
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within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing 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 have not completed our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, 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 directors, officers or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.
The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred
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prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public shareholders may receive only $10.10 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our sponsor, directors and officers have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within the completion window. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein, including as a result of terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of infectious diseases. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. It may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.10 per share, or less than $10.10 per share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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:
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restrictions on the nature of our investments; and
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restrictions on the issuance of securities;
each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
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registration as an investment company with the SEC;
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adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and
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reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to.
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
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investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Because the investment of the proceeds will be restricted to these instruments, we believe we will meet the requirements for the exemption provided in Rule 3a-1 promulgated under the Investment Company Act. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within the completion window, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, which may be less than $10.10 per share in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our directors and officers will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate
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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.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical target and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. 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 financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
Since our anchor investors will own founder shares, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular target business is appropriate for our initial business combination.
Our anchor investors will own founder shares. These anchor investors will share in any appreciation of the founder shares, provided that we successfully complete a business combination. Accordingly, our anchor investors’ founder shares may provide them with an incentive to vote any public shares they own in favor of a business combination, and make a substantial profit on such interests, even if the business combination is with a target that ultimately declines in value and is not profitable for other public shareholders.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
If our management team pursues a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If our management team pursues a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign market, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
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If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting (including how relevant governments respond to such factors), including any of the following:
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costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets;
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rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;
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complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;
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laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;
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exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;
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tariffs and trade barriers;
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regulations related to customs and import/export matters;
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export limits of raw materials and related in-country value-added processing requirements;
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local or regional economic policies and market conditions;
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unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
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challenges in managing and staffing international operations;
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changes in local regulations as part of a response to the COVID-19 outbreak;
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longer payment cycles;
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tax consequences, such as tax law changes, including termination or reduction of tax and other incentives that the applicable government provides to domestic companies, and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;
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currency fluctuations and exchange controls, including devaluations and other exchange rate movements;
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rates of inflation, price instability and interest rate fluctuations;
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liquidity of domestic capital and lending markets;
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challenges in collecting accounts receivable;
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cultural and language differences;
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underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;
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corruption;
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protection of intellectual property;
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employment regulations;
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environmental regulations;
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regulations concerning indigenous people/traditional landowners;
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changes of governmental royalty regimes;
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energy shortages;
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crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, wars and other forms of social instability;
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regime changes and political upheaval;
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deterioration of political relations with the United States;
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obligatory military service by personnel; and
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government appropriation of assets.
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Outbreaks of civil and political unrest and acts of terrorism have occurred in countries in Europe, Africa, South America, and the Middle East, including countries close to or where we may seek an acquisition. Continued or escalated civil and political unrest and acts of terrorism in the countries in which we may operate could result in our curtailing operations or delays in project completions. In the event that countries in which we may operate experience civil or political unrest or acts of terrorism, especially in events where such unrest leads to an unseating of the established government, our operations could be materially impaired. Our potential international operations may also be adversely affected, directly or indirectly, by laws, policies, and regulations of the United States affecting foreign trade and taxation, including U.S. trade sanctions. Realization of any of the factors listed above could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such combination or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Relating to our Trust Account
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares. For example, we may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer or proxy materials documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Proposed Business—Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights.”
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares and/or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares and/or warrants, potentially at a loss.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent
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auditors), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver only if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.10 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.
Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent auditors) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.10 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Our sponsor may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations, and therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.10 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 public share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our directors or officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (1) $10.10 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in
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exercising their business judgment 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 shareholders may be reduced below $10.10 per share.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such time frame before redemption from our trust account.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), pro rata to our public shareholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account shall be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to windup, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond the initial 24 months before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and then only in cases where investors have properly sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior thereto.
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 shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’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.
The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
The net proceeds of this offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants will be held in the trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended
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and restated memorandum and articles of association, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including 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.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding-up or bankruptcy petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy or insolvency court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding-up or bankruptcy petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding-up or bankruptcy petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding-up or bankruptcy petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable insolvency law, and may be included in our liquidation estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any liquidation claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation would be reduced.
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Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable for a fine of up to approximately $18,300 and to imprisonment for up to five years in the Cayman Islands.
Risks Relating to our Securities and Trust Account
Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution upon the purchase of our Class A ordinary shares.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the ordinary shares and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per ordinary share after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 144.0% (or $14.40 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $(4.40) and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B ordinary shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination and would become exacerbated to the extent that public shareholders seek redemptions from the trust. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A ordinary shares.
Our warrants and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We will be issuing warrants to purchase 10,000,000 Class A ordinary shares (or up to 11,500,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $11.50 per whole share (subject to adjustment as provided herein), as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement an aggregate of 8,000,000 (or 8,900,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Our initial shareholders currently hold 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares (up to 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent, if any, to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). The Class B ordinary shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our directors and officers make any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. To the extent we issue Class A ordinary shares to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants or conversion rights could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A
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ordinary shares issued to complete the business combination. Therefore, our warrants and founder shares may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees: (1) they will not be redeemable by us (except as described below under “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”); (2) they (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (4) they (including the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights.
The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with representatives of the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A ordinary shares and warrants underlying the units, include:
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the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies;
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prior offerings of those companies;
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our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values;
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our capital structure;
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an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies;
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general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and
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other factors as were deemed relevant.
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
There is currently no market for our securities. Shareholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases). Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained. Additionally, if the anchor investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, approximately 99.3% of the units sold in this offering will be purchased by the anchor investors, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s overallotment option. If the anchor investors purchase a significant portion or all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, the resulting concentration of ownership of our securities may consequently reduce the trading volume, volatility and liquidity of any trading market for our securities that may develop.
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Because each unit contains one-half of one redeemable warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit contains one-half of one redeemable warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole warrants will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole warrant to purchase one share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of this 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 U.S. securities laws. However, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”
The Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
We intend to have our units listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the date of this prospectus and our Class A ordinary shares and warrants listed on or promptly after their date of separation. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet the minimum initial listing requirements set forth in the rules of Nasdaq, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. In general, we must maintain a minimum amount of market value of listed securities (generally $50 million) and a minimum of 400 round lot holders. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, the value of our listed securities would generally be required to be at least $50 million and we would be required to have a minimum of 400 round lot holders of our unrestricted securities (with at least 50% of such round-lot holders holding unrestricted securities with a market value of at least $2,500). We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If Nasdaq delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
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a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
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reduced liquidity for our securities;
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a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
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a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
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a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants will qualify as covered securities under such statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by special purpose acquisition 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 Nasdaq, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under such statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
Certain agreements related to this offering may be amended without shareholder approval.
Certain agreements, including the underwriting agreement relating to this offering, the letter agreement among us and our sponsor, officers and directors, and the registration rights agreement among us and our initial shareholders, may be amended without shareholder approval. These agreements contain various provisions that our public shareholders might deem to be material. While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any such amendments would not require approval from our shareholders, 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.
Our initial shareholders and anchor investors will control the appointment of our board of directors until consummation of our initial business combination and will hold a substantial interest in us. As a result, they will appoint all of our directors prior to our initial business combination and may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon the closing of this offering, our initial shareholders and anchor investors will own 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of the founder shares will have the right to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of the board of directors for any reason in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will have no right to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in a general meeting. As a result, you will not have any influence over the appointment of directors prior to our initial business combination.
In addition, as a result of their substantial ownership in our company, our initial shareholders and anchor investors may exert a substantial influence on other actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial shareholders and anchor investors purchase any Class A ordinary shares in this offering or in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their influence over these actions. Neither our initial shareholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our directors or officers, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. Accordingly, our initial shareholders and anchor investors will exert significant influence over actions requiring a shareholder vote at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
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We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination. Our public shareholders will not have the right to appoint or remove directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss company affairs with management. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors prior to consummation of our initial business combination. In addition, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law. A resolution is deemed to be a special resolution as a matter of Cayman Islands law where it has been approved by either (1) holders of at least two-thirds (or any higher threshold specified in a company’s articles of association) of a company’s ordinary shares at a general meeting for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given or (2) if so authorized by a company’s articles of association, by a unanimous written resolution of all of the company’s shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that special resolutions must be approved either by holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law) (other than amendments relating to provisions governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, which require the approval of a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in a general meeting), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders. The warrant agreement provides that (a) the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision and (ii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants under the warrant agreement and (b) all other modifications or amendments require the vote or written consent of at least a majority of the then issued and outstanding public warrants; provided that any amendment that solely affects the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement solely with respect to the private placement warrants will also require at least a majority of the then issued and outstanding private placement warrants. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments, including the warrant agreement, or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.
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Certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by holders of a certain percentage of the company’s shares. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by holders holding between 90% and 100% of the company’s public shares. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions, including those related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances), may be amended if approved by holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote in a general meeting, 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 ordinary shares (other than amendments relating to provisions governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, which require the approval of a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in a general meeting). Our initial shareholders and anchor investors, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete our initial business combination with which you do not agree. In certain circumstances, our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers, directors or director nominees for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the issuance of such shares, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus
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relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case, the number of Class A ordinary shares that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum amount of shares equal to 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange and therefore they do not satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. 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 Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold than they would have upon a cash exercise.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in this 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 ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. 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 Class A ordinary shares 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.
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 our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that (a) the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision and (ii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants under the warrant agreement and (b) all other modifications or amendments require the vote or written consent of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants; provided that any amendment that solely affects the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement solely with respect to the
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private placement warrants will also require at least a majority of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 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, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike some blank check companies, if
(i)
we issue additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share,
(ii)
the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and
(iii)
the Market Value is below $9.20 per share,
then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described below under “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” and “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described below under “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Our warrants are expected to be accounted for as a warrant liability and will be recorded at fair value upon issuance with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Following the consummation of this offering and the concurrent private placement of warrants, we will issue an aggregate of 18,000,000 warrants in connection with this offering (comprised of the 10,000,000 warrants included in the units and the 8,000,000 private placement warrants, assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised). We expect to account for these as a warrant liability and will record at fair value upon issuance any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings as determined by us based upon a valuation report obtained from our independent third party valuation firm. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, potential targets may seek a SPAC that does not have warrants that are accounted for as a warrant liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the
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Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”). Please see “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00.” If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants as described above could force you to: (1) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so; (2) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants; or (3) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us (except as described below under “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”) so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”). In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. Please see “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00.” The value received upon
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exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 undesignated preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 462,000,000 and 45,000,000 (assuming in each case that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance, which amount takes into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants but not upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares. Class B ordinary shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. Immediately after this offering, there will be no preference shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares, and may issue preference shares, in order to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares to redeem the warrants as described in “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” or upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional ordinary shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote as a class with our public shares on any initial business combination. The issuance of additional ordinary shares or preference shares:
•
may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares;
•
may subordinate the rights of holders of ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our ordinary shares;
•
could cause a change of control if a substantial number of our ordinary shares is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our then current directors and officers;
•
may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us;
•
may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, ordinary shares and/or warrants; and
•
may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants.
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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 shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
•
default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;
•
acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
•
our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand;
•
our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding;
•
our inability to pay dividends on our ordinary shares;
•
using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and/or interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
•
limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
•
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.
The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within fifteen business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders, anchor investors and their permitted transferees may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of this offering, at or after the time of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, anchor investors and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of their founder shares after those shares convert to our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise
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of the private placement warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the resale of such warrants or the Class A ordinary shares 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 ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the ordinary shares owned by our initial shareholders, anchor investors or their permitted transferees, our private placement warrants or warrants issued in connection with working capital loans are registered for resale.
Because we are not limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic area or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Although we intend to focus our search for a market-leading, differentiated internet company, we may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company of any size (subject to our satisfaction of the 80% of net assets test) and in any industry, sector or geographic area. However, we will not, under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or development stage entity. Although our directors and officers will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to our investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any shareholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a shareholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder (as defined in the section of this prospectus captioned “Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Taxation—U.S. Holders”) of our ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend upon the status of an acquired company pursuant to a business combination and whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception (see the section of this prospectus captioned “Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Taxation—U.S. Holders—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules”). Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we
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are a PFIC for any taxable year, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would likely be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. Holders to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules to holders of our ordinary shares and warrants. For a more detailed explanation of the tax consequences of PFIC classification to U.S. Holders, see “Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Taxation—U.S. Holders—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.”
Our initial business combination may involve a jurisdiction that could impose taxes on shareholders or warrant holders.
We may, subject to requisite shareholder approval by special resolution under the Companies Act, effect a business combination with a target company in another jurisdiction, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located, or reincorporate in another jurisdiction. Such transactions may result in tax liability for our shareholders or warrant holders in the jurisdictions in which the shareholders, warrant holders or their members (in the case of tax transparent entities) are tax residents, or in the jurisdiction in which the target company is located or in which we reincorporate and may result in our shareholders or warrant holders holding securities with respect to which such a jurisdiction imposes taxes not otherwise disclosed herein. Such taxes may include withholding tax with respect to distributions by the target, or by us, and source-country capital gain taxes, typically enforced through withholding, such as U.S. federal income tax imposed on non-U.S. investors in respect of gain recognized on their sale, exchange or other disposition of certain interests in a “United States real property holding corporation” and Canadian taxes imposed on non-Canadian investors in respect of gain recognized on their sale, exchange or other disposition of “taxable Canadian property.” In the event of a reincorporation pursuant to our initial business combination, such tax liability may attach prior to the consummation of redemptions of any of our public shares properly submitted to us for redemption in connection with such business combination. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the Class A ordinary shares and the one-half of a warrant included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or courts. In addition, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants included in the units we are issuing in this offering is unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our Class A ordinary shares suspend the running of a U.S. Holder’s (as defined in section titled “Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Taxation—U.S. Holders”) holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A ordinary shares is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividend income” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See the section titled “Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Taxation” for a summary of the U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when acquiring, owning or disposing of our securities.
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
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to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of any second quarter of a fiscal year, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the end of such fiscal year. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all or substantially 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 or substantially 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.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. Federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the
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common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fulsome and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (1) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (2) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include two-year director terms and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Risks Related to our Sponsor and Management Team and Their Respective Affiliates
Past performance by our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company.
Information regarding performance by our management team and their respective affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our sponsor, directors or management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee either (1) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (2) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of sponsor, directors or our management team
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or their respective affiliates or any related investment’s performance as indicative of our future performance of an investment in the company or the returns the company will, or is likely to, generate going forward.
Our directors and officers will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our directors and officers are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other responsibilities. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our directors and officers may be engaged in several 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/or 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. For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Management—Directors, Director Nominees and Officers.”
Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and directors and officers are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Our sponsor and directors and officers are also not prohibited from sponsoring, or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies prior to us completing our initial business combination.
As described in “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties and may present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to other entities prior to its presentation to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other.
In addition, our sponsor, officers, directors and their respective affiliates may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination.
For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Management—Directors, Director Nominees and Officers,” “Management—Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”
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Our directors, officers, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or their respective 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. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. See the section titled “Description of Securities—Certain Differences in Corporate Law” for further information on the ability to bring such claims. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, directors or officers which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, directors and officers with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, directors and officers. Certain of our directors and officers also serve as officers and/or board members for other entities, including those described under “Management—Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, directors and officers are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria and guidelines for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business—Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement that we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, directors or officers, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may significantly dilute the implied value of your public shares in the event we consummate an initial business combination, and our sponsor is likely to make a substantial profit on its investment in us in the event we consummate an initial business combination, even if the business combination causes the trading price of our ordinary shares to materially decline.
While we are offering our units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit and the amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per public share, implying an initial value of $10.10 per public share, our sponsor paid only a nominal aggregate purchase price of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.004 per share. As a result, the value of your public shares may be significantly diluted in the event we consummate an initial business combination.
Our sponsor has committed to invest an aggregate of $8,025,000 in us in connection with this offering, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares and the $8,000,000 purchase price
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for the private placement warrants (assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised). As a result, even if the trading price of our ordinary shares significantly declines, our sponsor will stand to make significant profit on its investment in us. In addition, our sponsor could potentially recoup its entire investment in us even if the trading price of our ordinary shares is less than $1.00 per share and even if the private placement warrants are worthless. As a result, our sponsor is likely to make a substantial profit on its investment in us even if we select and consummate an initial business combination that causes the trading price of our ordinary shares to decline, while our public shareholders who purchased their units in this offering could lose significant value in their public shares. Our sponsor may therefore be economically incentivized to consummate an initial business combination with a riskier, weaker-performing or less-established target business than would be the case if our sponsor had paid the same per share price for the founder shares as our public shareholders paid for their public shares.
Since our initial shareholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
In March 2021, our sponsor subscribed for an aggregate of 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On September 17, 2021, our sponsor effected a surrender of 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the company for no consideration, resulting in a decrease in the number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding from 8,625,000 to 5,750,000, such that the total number of founder shares would represent 20% of the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of this offering (of which 750,000 Class B ordinary shares are subject to forfeiture if the underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option). Our initial shareholders will collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a capitalization or share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination and our sponsor and members of our board of directors acquired founder shares for approximately $0.004 per share and we are offering units at a price of $10.00 per unit in this offering; as a result, our sponsor and members of our board of directors could make a substantial profit after the initial business combination even if public investors experience substantial losses and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of the anchor investors is expected to enter into a separate agreement with our sponsor pursuant to which, subject to the conditions set forth therein, each such investor will agree to purchase 125,000 founder shares if assuming the investor acquires 9.9% of the units offered in this offering (93,750 founder shares if the investor acquires 7.5% of the units in this offering), in each case for approximately $0.005 per share. As a result of the founder shares that our anchor investors may hold, they may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public shareholders.
In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 8,000,000 (or 8,900,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants, each exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, for a purchase price of $8,000,000 in the aggregate or $8,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, or $1.00 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete a business combination. Each private placement warrant may be exercised for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein.
The founder shares are identical to the ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering except that: (1) prior to our initial business combination, only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason; (2) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions contained in a letter agreement that our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered with us; (3) pursuant to such letter agreement, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive: (i) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with the completion of our initial business
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combination; (ii) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame); (4) the founder shares will automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described in more detail below; and (5) the founder shares are entitled to registration rights.
If we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. In addition, our anchor investors have agreed to vote their founder shares in favor of our initial business combination. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to or waiver of the letter agreement or registration rights agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to or waivers of such agreements in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any such amendments or waivers would not require approval from our shareholders, may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
The personal and financial interests of our sponsor, directors and officers may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 24-month deadline following the closing of this offering nears, which is the deadline for the completion of our initial business combination.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or geographic areas which may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination in industries or geographic areas, which may be 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 acquisition opportunity for our company. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors relevant to such acquisition. Accordingly, any shareholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a shareholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Because we intend to seek a business combination with a target business in the internet industry, we expect our future operations to be subject to risks associated with this industry.
Business combinations with businesses in the internet industry entail special considerations and risks. If we are successful in completing a business combination with such a target business, we may be subject to, and possibly adversely affected by, the following risks:
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if we do not develop successful new products or improve existing ones, our business will suffer;
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we may invest in new lines of business that could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue;
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we will face significant competition and if we are not able to maintain or improve our market share, our business could suffer;
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the loss of one or more members of our management team, or our failure to attract and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could seriously harm our business;
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if our security is compromised or if our platform is subjected to attacks that frustrate or thwart our users’ ability to access our products and services, our users, advertisers, and partners may cut back on or stop using our products and services altogether, which could seriously harm our business;
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malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks, spamming, and improper or illegal use of our products could seriously harm our business and reputation;
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if we are unable to successfully grow our user base and further monetize our products, our business will suffer;
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if we are unable to protect our intellectual property, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be seriously harmed;
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we may be subject to regulatory investigations and proceedings in the future, which could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a way that could seriously harm our business;
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components used in our products may fail as a result of a manufacturing, design, or other defect over which we have no control, and render our devices inoperable;
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an inability to manage rapid change, increasing consumer expectations and growth;
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an inability to build strong brand identity and improve subscriber or customer satisfaction and loyalty;
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an inability to deal with our subscribers’ or customers’ privacy concerns;
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an inability to license or enforce intellectual property rights on which our business may depend;
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an inability by us, or a refusal by third parties, to license content to us upon acceptable terms;
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potential liability for negligence, copyright, or trademark infringement or other claims based on the nature and content of materials that we may distribute;
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competition for the leisure and entertainment time and discretionary spending of subscribers or customers, which may intensify in part due to advances in technology and changes in consumer expectations and behavior; and
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disruption or failure of our networks, systems or technology as a result of computer viruses, “cyber-attacks,” misappropriation of data or other malfeasance, as well as outages, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, accidental releases of information or similar events.
Any of the foregoing could have an adverse impact on our operations following a business combination. However, our efforts in identifying prospective target businesses will not be limited to businesses in the internet industry. Accordingly, if we acquire a target business in another industry, these risks we will be subject to risks attendant with the specific industry in which we operate or target business which we acquire, which may or may not be different than those risks listed above.
We are dependent upon our directors and officers and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and in particular, Terry Pearce, Executive Vice Chairman, Tony Pearce, Executive Chairman, and Daniel S. Webb, our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Director. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our directors and officers, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our directors and officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs
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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.
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 our or a target’s 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 and in particular, Terry Pearce, Executive Vice Chairman, Tony Pearce, Executive Chairman and Daniel S. Webb, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, 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 the 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 our initial 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 his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
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Risks Relating to our Operations
We may be able to complete only one business combination with the proceeds of this 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 this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will provide us with $203,400,000 (or $233,700,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our initial business combination (which includes $7,000,000, or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account, and excludes estimated offering expenses of $600,000).
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry.
Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
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solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or
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dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
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 shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will complete such business combination only if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet
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such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new ordinary shares in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target, or issue a substantial number of new shares to third-parties in connection with financing our initial business combination. 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 ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the 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 may have limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any shareholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a shareholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to subsequently take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present with a particular target business that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write down or write off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any shareholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a shareholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
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,
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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.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, any or all of our management could resign from their positions as officers of the company, and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination could remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with U.S. securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, our results of operations and prospects could be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political, social and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
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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.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this prospectus may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management 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 prospectus may include, for example, statements about:
•
our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;
•
our ability to complete our initial business combination;
•
our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses;
•
our expectations and forecasts around the performance and trends of markets and industries;
•
our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;
•
our directors and officers allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;
•
our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;
•
our pool of prospective target businesses and the energy and mining industries;
•
our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases);
•
the ability of our directors and officers 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;
•
our financial performance following this offering,
•
our financial performance following this offering; and
•
the other risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus.
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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USE OF PROCEEDS
We are offering 20,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.
| | | |
Without Over-
Allotment Option |
| |
Over-Allotment
Option Exercised |
| ||||||
| Gross proceeds | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1)
|
| | | $ | 200,000,000 | | | | | $ | 230,000,000 | | |
|
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement
|
| | | | 8,000,000 | | | | | | 8,900,000 | | |
|
Total gross proceeds
|
| | | | 208,000,000 | | | | | | 238,900,000 | | |
| Estimated offering expenses(2) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Underwriting commissions (excluding deferred portion)(3)
|
| | | | 4,000,000 | | | | | | 4,600,000 | | |
|
Legal fees and expenses
|
| | | | 300,000 | | | | | | 300,000 | | |
|
Accounting fees and expenses
|
| | | | 40,000 | | | | | | 40,000 | | |
|
Printing and engraving expenses
|
| | | | 35,000 | | | | | | 35,000 | | |
|
SEC expenses
|
| | | | 25,093 | | | | | | 25,093 | | |
|
FINRA expenses
|
| | | | 35,000 | | | | | | 35,000 | | |
|
Road show
|
| | | | 10,000 | | | | | | 10,000 | | |
|
Nasdaq listing and filing fees
|
| | | | 85,000 | | | | | | 85,000 | | |
|
Miscellaneous expenses(4)
|
| | | | 69,907 | | | | | | 69,907 | | |
|
Total estimated offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions)
|
| | | | 600,000 | | | | | | 600,000 | | |
|
Proceeds after estimated offering expenses
|
| | | | 203,400,000 | | | | | | 233,700,000 | | |
|
Held in trust account(3)
|
| | | $ | 202,000,000 | | | | | $ | 232,300,000 | | |
|
% of public offering size
|
| | | | 101% | | | | | | 101% | | |
|
Not held in trust account(2)
|
| | | $ | 1,400,000 | | | | | $ | 1,400,000 | | |
The following table shows the use of the net proceeds not held in the trust account(6).
| | | |
Amount
|
| |
% of Total
|
| ||||||
|
Directors and officers insurance premiums(5)
|
| | | | 500,000 | | | | | | 35.7% | | |
|
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with any business combination(7)
|
| | | | 250,000 | | | | | | 17.8% | | |
|
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations
|
| | | | 150,000 | | | | | | 10.7% | | |
|
Payment for office space, utilities, secretarial, administrative and support services
|
| | | | 180,000 | | | | | | 12.9% | | |
|
Nasdaq continued listing fees
|
| | | | 85,000 | | | | | | 6.0% | | |
|
Other miscellaneous expenses
|
| | | | 235,000 | | | | | | 16.9% | | |
| Total | | | | | 1,400,000 | | | | | | 100.0% | | |
(1)
Includes amounts payable to public shareholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination.
(2)
A portion of the offering expenses have been paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to $300,000 as described in this prospectus. As of June 30, 2021, $174,605 was outstanding under the promissory note with our sponsor. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $600,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account. These expenses are estimates only. In the event that offering expenses are less than as set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account.
(3)
The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross
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proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $7,000,000, which constitutes the underwriters’ deferred commissions (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account, and the remaining funds, less amounts used to pay redeeming shareholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions. Up to $0.105 per unit, or up to $2,100,000 (or $2,415,000) if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), of such amount may instead be paid, at our sole discretion, to third parties not participating in this offering (but are FINRA members) that assist us in consummating our initial business combination.
(4)
Includes organizational and administrative expenses and may include amounts related to above-listed expenses in the event actual amounts exceed estimates.
(5)
This amount represents the approximate amount of annualized director and officer liability insurance premiums we anticipate paying following the completion of this offering and until we complete a business combination.
(6)
These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring a business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify an acquisition target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. Based on current interest rates, we would expect to earn approximately $200,000 in interest on the funds held in the trust account over the 12 months following the closing of this offering; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. This estimate assumes an interest rate of 0.10% per annum based upon current yields of securities in which the trust account may be invested. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
(7)
Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing.
The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $202,000,000 (or $232,300,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), including $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will, upon the consummation of this
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offering, be placed in a U.S.-based trust account, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Based on current interest rates, we estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $200,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.10% per year. We will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account except for the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes, if any. The funds held in the trust account will not otherwise be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. Based on current interest rates, we expect that interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient to pay taxes.
The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination and to pay the deferred underwriting commissions. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or the redemption of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We believe that amounts not held in trust will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their respective affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to loan funds to, or otherwise invest in, us.
We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will pay affiliates of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial, administrative and support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of June 30, 2021, $174,605 was outstanding under the promissory note with our sponsor. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of March 31, 2022 and the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $600,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be
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used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may also purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Please see “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities” for a description of how such persons will determine from which shareholders to seek to acquire shares. The price per share paid in any such purchase or other transaction may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. However, such persons have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such purchases or other transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or other transactions. Such persons will be subject to restrictions in making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
We may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions and the agreement for our initial business combination may require as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination, and may instead search for an alternate business combination.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants.
Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination or certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as described elsewhere in this prospectus. In addition, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our initial shareholders, directors or officers acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
Our anchor investors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares, whether upon an initial business combination or if we
80
fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, anchor investors will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to public shares acquired by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
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DIVIDEND POLICY
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of this offering, in which case we will effect a capitalization or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
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DILUTION
The difference between the public offering price per share of our Class A ordinary shares, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A ordinary shares after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public shareholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of our Class A ordinary shares which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
At June 30, 2021, our net tangible book (deficit) was $598,278, or approximately $(0.10) per share. After giving effect to the sale of 20,000,000 Class A ordinary shares included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 23,000,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at June 30, 2021 would have been $(21,982,501) or $(4.40) per share (or $(25,216,021) or $(4.39) per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of 20,000,000 shares of our Class A ordinary shares that may be redeemed for cash or 23,000,000 shares of our Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $(4.30) per share (or $(4.29) per share to our initial shareholders as of the date of this prospectus. Total dilution to public shareholders from this offering will be $14.40 per share (or $14.39 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full).
The following table illustrates the dilution to the public shareholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants:
| | | |
Without
Over-allotment |
| |
With
Over-allotment |
| ||||||
|
Public offering price
|
| | | $ | 10.00 | | | | | $ | 10.00 | | |
|
Net tangible book deficit before this offering
|
| | | | (0.10) | | | | | | (0.10) | | |
|
Increase (decrease) attributable to public shareholders
|
| | | | (4.30) | | | | | | (4.29) | | |
|
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants
|
| | | | (4.40) | | | | | | (4.39) | | |
|
Dilution to public shareholders
|
| | | $ | 14.40 | | | | | $ | 14.39 | | |
|
Percentage of dilution to public shareholders
|
| | | | 144.0% | | | | | | 143.9% | | |
For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) by $202,000,000 because holders of up to approximately 100% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or shareholder meeting, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares.
The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial shareholders and the public shareholders:
| | | |
Shares Purchased
|
| |
Total Consideration
|
| |
Average
Price Per Share |
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| | | |
Number
|
| |
Percentage
|
| |
Number
|
| |
Percentage
|
| ||||||||||||||||||
|
Class B ordinary shares(1)(2)
|
| | | | 5,000,000 | | | | | | 20.0% | | | | | $ | 25,000 | | | | | | 0.012% | | | | | $ | 0.0055 | | |
|
Public shareholders
|
| | | | 20,000,000 | | | | | | 80.0% | | | | | $ | 200,000,000 | | | | | | 99.998% | | | | | $ | 10.00 | | |
| | | | | | 25,000,000 | | | | | | 100.00% | | | | | $ | 200,025,000 | | | | | | 100.00% | | | | | | | | |
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(1)
This number excludes an aggregate of up to 750,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters.
(2)
Assumes conversion of the founder shares into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis. The dilution to public shareholders would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of shares of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon such conversion.
The pro forma net tangible book value per share after the offering (assuming that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised) is calculated as follows:
| | | |
Without Over-
allotment |
| |
With Over-
allotment |
| ||||||
| Numerator: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Net tangible book deficit before this offering
|
| | | $ | (598,278) | | | | | $ | (598,278) | | |
|
Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement warrants(1)
|
| | | | 203,400,000 | | | | | | 233,700,000 | | |
|
Plus: Offering costs paid in advance, excluded from tangible book
value |
| | | | 592,177 | | | | | | 592,177 | | |
|
Less: Deferred underwriting commissions
|
| | | | (7,000,000) | | | | | | (8,050,000) | | |
|
Less: Warrant liability
|
| | | | (16,376,400) | | | | | | (18,559,920) | | |
|
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption
|
| | | | (202,000,000) | | | | | | (232,300,000) | | |
| | | | | $ | (21,982,501) | | | | | $ | (25,216,021) | | |
| Denominator: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Class B ordinary shares outstanding prior to this offering
|
| | | | 5,750,000 | | | | | | 5,750,000 | | |
|
Class B ordinary shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised
|
| | | | (750,000) | | | | | | — | | |
|
Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered
|
| | | | 20,000,000 | | | | | | 23,000,000 | | |
|
Less: Shares subject to redemption
|
| | | | (20,000,000) | | | | | | (23,000,000) | | |
| | | | | | 5,000,000 | | | | | | 5,750,000 | | |
(1)
Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses (net of director and officer insurance premium) of $600,000 and underwriting commissions of $4,000,000 or $4,600,000 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option (excluding deferred underwriting fees). See “Use of Proceeds.”
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CAPITALIZATION
The following table sets forth our capitalization at June 30, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the sale of our units in this offering and the private placement warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:
| | | |
June 30, 2021
|
| |||||||||
| | | |
Actual
|
| |
As Adjusted(1)
|
| ||||||
|
Note payable to related party(1)
|
| | | $ | 174,605 | | | | | $ | — | | |
|
Deferred underwriting commissions
|
| | | | — | | | | | | 7,000,000 | | |
|
Warrant liability(2)
|
| | | | — | | | | | | 16,376,400 | | |
|
Class A ordinary share, $0.0001 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; ‑0‑ and 20,000,000 shares are subject to possible redemption, actual and as adjusted, respectively(3)
|
| | | | — | | | | | | 202,000,000 | | |
|
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
|
Class A ordinary share, $0.0001 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; ‑0‑ and -0- shares issued and outstanding (excluding -0- and 20,000,000 shares subject to possible redemption), actual and as adjusted, respectively
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
|
Class B ordinary share, $0.0001 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 and 5,000,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively(3)
|
| | | | 575 | | | | | | 500 | | |
|
Additional paid-in capital(4)
|
| | | | 24,425 | | | | | | — | | |
|
Accumulated deficit
|
| | | | (31,101) | | | | | | (21,983,001) | | |
|
Total shareholders’ equity
|
| | | | (6,101) | | | | | | (21,982,501) | | |
|
Total capitalization
|
| | | $ | 168,504 | | | | | $ | 203,393,899 | | |
(1)
Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The as adjusted information gives effect to the repayment of this note out of the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. As of June 30, 2021, we have borrowed approximately $174,605 under the promissory note with our sponsor.
(2)
We will account for the 18,000,000 warrants to be issued in connection with this offering (the 10,000,000 warrants included in the units and the 8,000,000 private placement warrants, assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, we will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in our statement of operations.
(3)
Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares and as adjusted share amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
(4)
We will account for the excess of the fair value of the 1,250,000 founder shares sold to the anchor investors by the sponsor over the amount paid by the anchor investors as a cost of this offering in accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) Topic 5A and SAB Topic 5T. Accordingly, the amount of $8,300,000 will be recorded as a contribution from the founders within additional paid in capital under SAB Topic 5T and such offering costs will be recorded to equity within additional paid in capital under SAB Topic 5A.
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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview
We are a newly incorporated blank check company, incorporated on March 5, 2021, as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, shares and debt.
The issuance of additional ordinary shares or preference shares in a business combination:
•
may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares;
•
may subordinate the rights of holders of ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our ordinary shares;
•
could cause a change of control if a substantial number of our ordinary shares is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present directors and officers;
•
may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us;
•
may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, ordinary shares and/or warrants; and
•
may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants.
Similarly, if we issue debt or otherwise incur significant indebtedness, it could result in:
•
default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;
•
acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
•
our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand;
•
our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding;
•
our inability to pay dividends on our ordinary shares;
•
using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
•
limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
•
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.
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Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares to our sponsor and up to $300,000 in loans from our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. As of June 30, 2021, $174,605 outstanding under the promissory note with our sponsor. We estimate that the net proceeds from (1) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $600,000 and underwriting commissions of $4,000,000 ($4,600,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $7,000,000, or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), and (2) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $8,000,000 (or $8,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $203,400,000 (or $233,700,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $202,000,000 or $232,300,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, including $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions will be deposited into the trust account. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries. The remaining $1,400,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $600,000 we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $600,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and excluding deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay taxes, if any. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our taxes. We expect the only taxes payable by us out of the funds in the trust account will be income and franchise taxes, if any. To the extent that our ordinary shares or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us $1,400,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, sites or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, structure, negotiate and complete a business combination, and to pay taxes to the extent the interest earned on the trust account is not sufficient to pay our taxes.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released
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to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $250,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with any business combinations; $150,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $500,000 for director’s and officer’s insurance; $85,000 for Nasdaq continued listing fees; $180,000 for office space, utilities, secretarial, administrative and support services; and $235,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves net of estimated interest income.
These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination.
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at June 30, 2021 we had $44,515 in cash, deferred offering costs of $592,177 and an accumulated deficit of $31,101. Further, we expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
Controls and Procedures
We are not currently required to evaluate and report on an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control reporting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
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Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor have our registered independent accounting firm tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:
•
staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties;
•
reconciliation of accounts;
•
proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate;
•
evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;
•
documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and
•
documentation of accounting policies and procedures.
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our registered independent accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent auditors may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
Related Party Transactions
In March 2021, our sponsor subscribed for an aggregate of 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On September 17, 2021, our sponsor effected a surrender of 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the company for no consideration, resulting in a decrease in the number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding from 8,625,000 to 5,750,000, such that the total number of founder shares would represent 20% of the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of this offering (of which 750,000 Class B ordinary shares are subject to forfeiture if the underwriters do not exercise their over allotment option). If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a capitalization, share dividend, share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 750,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent, if any, to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.
We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will also pay affiliates of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial, administrative
89
and support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Our sponsor, directors and officers, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, directors, officers or our or any of their respective affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of June 30, 2021, $174,605 was outstanding under the promissory note with our sponsor. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of March 31, 2022 and the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $600,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 8,000,000 (or 8,900,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($8,000,000 in the aggregate or $8,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees: (1) they will not be redeemable by us (except as described below under “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”); (2) they (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (4) they (including the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights.
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement that we will enter into with our initial shareholders and anchor investors on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until the securities covered thereby are released from their lock-up restrictions, as described herein. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. See “Principal Shareholders—Registration Rights.”
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Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results
As of June 30, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus as we have conducted no operations to date.
JOBS Act
On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things: (1) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; (2) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; (3) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis); and (4) disclose certain executive compensation-related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of this offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
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PROPOSED BUSINESS
General
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. is a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated on March 5, 2021 as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities as well as activities related to this offering. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.
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.
We intend to focus our efforts on seeking and completing an initial business combination with a company that has an enterprise value of over $750 million. Our objective is to identify and accelerate a market-leading, differentiated internet company within our target sectors of interest, including direct-to-consumer brands, Amazon centric, online marketplaces, food tech, new media, digital health, software-as-a-service, fin tech, and any adjacent industries undergoing technology-driven transformations, that offer high-quality revenue streams and attractive organic and inorganic growth opportunities. Per McKinsey & Company, COVID-19 is transforming consumer lives and has resulted in a “decade in days” when it comes to the adoption to digital. We estimate that this shift has created a cohort of hundreds of companies that are now at scale to operate as a public company and that would have otherwise been one to five years away from accessing public markets. We believe Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. can accelerate a potential target’s ability to pursue the public markets, as well as potentially reduce the risk and time commitment associated with a public listing. There has also been recent significant demand for public investors to access these uniquely positioned companies, illustrated by aggregate technology Special Purpose Acquisition Company (“SPAC”) transaction volume of over $75 billion from 2018 to September 3, 2021.
We believe that the operational and execution capabilities of our combined team will make us an attractive partner to potential target businesses, enhance our ability to complete a successful business combination, and bring compelling value to shareholders post-business combination. We believe these capabilities were clearly demonstrated in Tony and Terry Pearce’s successful founding of Purple Innovation Inc. (“Purple”), their subsequent transaction with a SPAC, their significant work with Purple since the closing of the merger, and their successful exit from Purple. Our capabilities are further demonstrated by Daniel Webb’s deal experience advising the top technology companies in the world, including Microsoft, Snap, Carvana, Pinterest, Delivery Hero, Just Eat Takeaway, Fiverr, Grubhub, Credit Karma, Cardlytics, Purple, Revolve, and Paytm among many others. Our team has accumulated robust experience, through which we can provide a business with the opportunity to accelerate its growth and create significant value to shareholders.
Our Sponsor’s SPAC Experience at Purple
Tony and Terry Pearce have a well-informed perspective as SPAC sponsors and advisors to potential targets given their prior company, Purple, went public through a SPAC in February 2018. From launch in 2016 to their exit in August 2020, Tony and Terry dramatically grew and scaled Purple to a company that generated $648.5 million of net revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Purple is a leading comfort technology and direct-to-consumer mattress company that leverages its operational and innovation expertise to design and sell a branded portfolio of patented comfort products. Purple officially launched on January 22, 2016 with its viral “Goldilocks” commercial after a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign in September 2015. Purple has generated substantial value having grown to a market capitalization of $1.5 billion, as of September 17, 2021. Purple’s Class A common stock is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol “PRPL”.
Through Tony and Terry’s leadership, vision, and innovation, Purple grew its revenues substantially and achieved profitability. Based on Purple’s publicly reported financial information, for the 12 months
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ended December 31, 2020, Purple’s net revenue increased 51.4%, to $648.5 million, compared with net revenue of $428.4 million for the 12 months ended December 31, 2019. For the three-year period ending December 31, 2020, Purple’s net revenue increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.8%. As of September 17, 2021, the market price of Purple’s common stock was $22.57.
Our Management Team and Board of Directors
Tony Pearce is our Executive Chairman and a Director. Mr. Pearce was a co-founder of Purple Innovation, LLC. He led Purple’s early entry into premium, direct-to-consumer products and built the company into one of the top eCommerce companies in the world. He served as the Co-CEO of Purple from its inception in 2010 as WonderGel, LLC through its meteoric launch in 2016, taking it public through a SPAC in February 2018. Together with his brother Terry Pearce, Mr. Pearce also served as Co-Director of Research & Development at Purple from 2016 to August 19, 2020, including during an 18-month period of time ending on January 29, 2019, when he was also voluntarily providing charitable service out of the country. Prior to founding Purple, Mr. Pearce was a manager of various technology companies owned by Mr. Pearce and his brother Terry Pearce, including EdiZONE, LLC, which focuses on developing advanced cushioning technology. From April 2020 until April 2021, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Brilliant Science LLC, an early-stage direct-to-consumer health and wellness company. Mr. Pearce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.
Terry Pearce is our Executive Vice Chairman and a Director. Mr. Pearce was a co-founder of Purple Innovation, LLC and served as Co-CEO of Purple from its inception in 2010 as WonderGel, LLC through its meteoric launch in 2016, taking it public through a SPAC in February 2018. Together with his brother Tony Pearce, Mr. Pearce also served as Co-Director of Research & Development at Purple from 2016 to August 19, 2020, including a period of time in 2018 when he also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer following the resignation of the company’s former Chief Executive Officer on March 13, 2018, and until Joseph Megibow joined the company as its Chief Executive Officer on October 1, 2018. Prior to founding Purple, Mr. Pearce was a manager of various technology companies owned by Mr. Pearce and his brother Tony Pearce, including EdiZONE, LLC, which focuses on developing advanced cushioning technology. Mr. Pearce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Utah.
Daniel Webb is our Chief Executive Officer , Chief Financial Officer and a Director. Mr. Webb was previously a technology investment banker and private equity investor having worked on transactions totaling approximately $40 billion in transaction value for disruptive internet companies. In his career as an investment banker at Bank of America and Citi, he advised leading technology companies on their IPOs such as Snap, Carvana, Pinterest, Delivery Hero, Arista Networks, Freescale Semiconductor, Fiverr, Grubhub, Cardlytics, Revolve, SurveyMonkey, Zulily, and Trivago. He also helped raise public and private capital for leading technology companies such as Microsoft, Pinterest, Costar, Thrasio, Fiverr, Fanatics, Grubhub, Cardlytics, Overstock, MakeMyTrip, Purple, GSV Capital, Paytm, Integral Ad Science, and Thrillist. In addition, he advised on one of the largest internet acquisitions in history, Just Eat Takeaway’s acquisition of Grubhub as well as other transactions such as Credit Karma’s sale to Intuit, Cardlytics’ acquisition of Dosh, Bonobos’ sale to Walmart, Reachlocal’s sale to Gannett, and Aristocrat Leisure’s acquisition of Plarium. Mr. Webb previously worked in private equity at HarbourVest Partners where he directed investments in Lightower Fiber Networks, Sidera Networks, and Confie Seguros. Mr. Webb holds a Master of Accountancy and Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Brigham Young University.
Lynne Laube is an Independent Director. Ms. Laube is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Cardlytics, and has been a member of the Board of Directors since the company was founded in 2008. Prior to her appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Cardlytics in 2020, Ms. Laube served as Chief Operating Officer. From 1994 to 2008, Ms. Laube held various positions at Capital One, including as a Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Capital One Payments. Ms. Laube started her career at Bank One Corporation, where she specialized in operations analysis. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for NerdWallet. Ms. Laube holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Marketing from University of Cincinnati’s College of Business and is a graduate of Darden’s Executive Leadership program from the University of Virginia.
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Tanner Ainge is an Independent Director. Mr. Ainge is the Managing Partner of Banner Ventures, a private investment firm where his primary responsibilities include sourcing, underwriting, and overseeing a portfolio of private equity and growth-stage investments on behalf of a close-knit group of family offices and successful entrepreneurs. He also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Banner Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: BNNR). He most recently co-led a $52 million investment into Pattern, Inc. (“Pattern”), a rapidly growing provider of global e-Commerce solutions. From July 2018 to March 2020, Mr. Ainge led the mergers and acquisitions strategy for Outbox Systems, Inc. (d.b.a. “Simplus”), a Salesforce implementation partner and information technology company, including acquisitions in Europe and Asia and eventual merger of Simplus with Infosys Limited. (“Infosys Ltd”; NYSE: INFY) in March 2020. From July 2013 to August 2015, Mr. Ainge served as an executive of Ensign, where he managed the company’s acquisition pipeline and process, and then served as General Counsel of CareTrust REIT following its spin-off from Ensign. Mr. Ainge began his career in mergers and acquisitions with private equity firm HGGC LLC and later with the global law firm Kirkland & Ellis, LLP. He is also a judge advocate in the Utah National Guard and was appointed to the Governor’s Economic Development Board for the State of Utah in 2021. Mr. Ainge received a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Brigham Young University and a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law.
Dave Crowder is an Independent Director. Mr. Crowder is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Section Partners, a growth-stage venture capital firm providing personal financing solutions to founders, executives, and shareholders of venture-backed technology companies. Previously, Mr. Crowder served as Partner of GSV Asset Management, LLC and as executive officer of GSV Capital, a publicly traded late-stage venture capital fund. Prior to GSV Capital Dave was a General Partner of Thomas Weisel Venture Partners. Mr. Crowder began his career in investment banking at Montgomery Securities and Goldman Sachs. He is also a former Adjunct Professor of the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Utah and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Davis Smith is an Independent Director. Mr. Smith is the founder and CEO of Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear brand with a humanitarian mission backed by Bain Capital. He is a member of the United Nations Foundation’s Global Leadership Council and a Presidential Leadership Scholar. Mr. Smith previously started Brazil’s “Startup of the Year,” was Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s “CEO of the Year,” and is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Smith holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School, a Master of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University.
Members of our board of directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Our sponsor and members of our board of directors acquired founder shares for approximately $0.004 per share and we are offering units at a price of $10.00 per unit in this offering; as a result, our sponsor and members of our board of directors could make a substantial profit after the initial business combination even if public investors experience substantial losses and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. See “Risk Factors—The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may significantly dilute the implied value of your public shares in the event we consummate an initial business combination, and our sponsor is likely to make a substantial profit on its investment in us in the event we consummate an initial business combination, even if the business combination causes the trading price of our ordinary shares to materially decline.” and “—Since our initial shareholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.”
We believe that our industry expertise and relationships will help us identify a substantial number of attractive potential business combination opportunities and allow us to add significant value to our potential target companies.
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Business Strategy
The Worldwide Internet Market Opportunity
The internet sector has created substantial value for investors over the past two decades. The acceleration of global digitalization and the shifting of consumer preferences to discover, communicate, learn, be entertained, and transact from their mobile devices are reinforcing the critical nature and resiliency of businesses in the internet sector. Internet companies continue to disrupt traditional industries at an unprecedented pace and in ways that were not previously possible by taking advantage of new technologies to drive efficiency, transparency, and discovery. In addition, the proliferation of cloud technologies is enabling these businesses to scale faster and at lower costs than ever before. As internet companies change the way traditional business is done, they are positioned to benefit from significant value creation; however, thus far, the preponderance of that value creation has been captured by the private markets.
Industry trends are converging to increase both the size of individual investments and also the number of potential internet investment opportunities. The recent shift to online as a result of COVID-19 has allowed new entrants to grow extremely rapidly and gain scale and attractive unit economics earlier in their company lifecycles. Acquisitions have also allowed internet companies to gain additional revenue, customers, products, and services, all while avoiding some or most of the operating costs associated with integration. We believe that these trends will result in significant potential attractive investment opportunities and that we are well-positioned to facilitate taking such companies public.
There are significant benefits to companies being publicly traded during their growth stage, including having access to capital markets, having publicly traded stock as currency for potential acquisitions and to use to attract and retain talent, as well as increased brand awareness. We believe that an initial business combination with a blank check company such as ours provides an attractive mechanism for going public. An initial business combination with Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. would provide a potential target company with several benefits, including:
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A valuable and collaborative partnership with a strong sponsor team that has successfully experienced the full lifecycle of founding a company and going public through a SPAC
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Structural flexibility and greater certainty of close and a successful transaction
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A faster route to public markets with reduced management distraction, risks, and time commitment
Although we intend to execute a business combination with a company in the internet sector, the above industry overview is not intended to be exhaustive, and we reserve the right to enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not necessarily fit precisely within the boundaries of the internet sector. We believe that our management team is also well situated to evaluate potential targets in the broader technology space and we may also consider a business combination with such entities. Ultimately, we will be guided by our business strategy, acquisition criteria, experience, and expertise in identifying exceptional candidates that provide a compelling business opportunity for our company.
Our Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and complete a business combination that creates value for our shareholders. We believe our team is well positioned to successfully identify attractive opportunities as we plan to leverage our sponsor team’s prior experiences, track records, and extensive relationship networks.
Our sponsor team’s expertise in internet companies in our target sectors of interest, including direct-to-consumer-brands, Amazon centric, online marketplaces, food tech, new media, digital health, software-as-a-service, fin tech, and adjacent industries undergoing technology-driven transformations, positions us well to source, execute, and add value to companies in these sectors. We intend to leverage our experience with digital disruption, marketing, supply chain management, and product development, as well as our demonstrated ability to work with companies to drive profitable growth.
We believe the combined team possesses the core characteristics required for a successful SPAC team. Our combined team is a mix of what we view to be successful dealmakers and successful founders and
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operators, with experience across multiple deal types, and as founders of variety of businesses in the internet sector. We believe we have built a meaningful proprietary deal-sourcing network that will help us source deals that other investors cannot. We also have what we believe is a strong track record of value creation, both as founders and advisors. Our network and current affiliations across the team will allow us to lean heavily on existing relationships to find proprietary deal flow. We also intend to leverage our network of third-party advisors, as needed.
Our sourcing and acquisition selection process will leverage our sponsor team’s deep, broad, and trusted network of founders, executives, venture capitalists, private equity sponsors, investment bankers, lending community relationships, and relationships with private companies. We believe that our value-added approach, and ability to work with strategic partners within our network will position us as an attractive business combination target to many potential merger targets. Furthermore, the experience of members of our team in founding Purple and taking it public through a SPAC will further differentiate us from the other vehicles in the market and allow a potential target to benefit from our team’s prior experience to maximize the target’s value proposition. We also believe this should provide us with a breadth of business combination opportunities, typically outside of broad auction processes.
We believe our sponsor team’s experience founding and operating internet companies, along with its history of advising world-class management teams, successfully capturing operating improvement opportunities, strengthening marketing, increasing revenue generation, and enhancing investor positioning for leading internet companies will be appealing to company management teams and boards that are seeking opportunities to assume leadership in their sector.
Initial Business Combination Criteria
We have identified the following attributes and guidelines to evaluate prospective target businesses. We may decide, however, to enter into our initial business combination with one or more businesses that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to pursue an initial business combination with companies that have the following characteristics:
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Market Leading Platform with Differentiated Product Offering: We intend to seek business combination targets that have a leading market position and significant barriers to entry through brand value, innovative technology, large and loyal customer bases, and differentiated products or services. We believe a leadership position affords a company the opportunity to drive outcomes for their market and more easily capture the mindshare of customers.
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Large and Addressable Market with a Sustainable Growth Opportunity: The internet sector is home to many high-growth companies benefitting from the rapid pace of digital transformations. We will seek business combination targets that are successfully capturing market share in a large addressable market with significant future opportunity and tailwinds. We will focus on those companies for which rapid growth and customer adoption is fueled by their compelling value proposition versus those for whom growth is derived primarily from significant marketing spend.
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Attractive Unit Economics: We will seek to partner with business combination targets that have a strong performance track-record, supported by robust unit economics, and the ability to sustain significant growth while achieving strong profitability over time.
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Data Directed Decision Making: We will seek to identify businesses for whom data is core to their decision-making processes and is consistently used for operational and strategic judgments and to track business performance.
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Purpose-Driven with High Ethical Standards: We believe consumers and companies will continue to shift spending to companies that are purpose-driven and have high ethical standards. We will seek a business combination targets that are purpose-driven, sustainable, and environmentally friendly, as well as a management team that leads and builds their business with the highest standards of ethics and integrity.
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Visionary Management Team with Proven Track Record: We will seek business combination targets with a management team that has a track record of delivering strong performance and
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is passionate about the opportunity and relentless in their desire to build a large and meaningful business. We intend to work as long-term partners with our prospective target company while building a successful business combination.
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Sensible Valuation: We have a deep understanding of private valuations and will aim to negotiate terms that will provide significant upside potential while limiting downside risk.
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as on other considerations, factors, and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the SEC.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a potential target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review to seek to determine a company’s quality and its intrinsic value. That due diligence review may include, among other things, financial statement analysis, detailed document reviews, multiple meetings with management (which may be virtual or in-person), consultations with relevant industry experts, competitors, customers, and suppliers, as well as a review of additional financial and other information that we will seek to obtain as part of our analysis of a target company.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors or any of their affiliates. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA, or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Members of our management team, including our officers and directors, will directly or indirectly own our securities following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target company is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors, as well as our management team, may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers, directors, and management team members was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to such business combination.
We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly, or indirectly, with any business combination target.
Each of our directors, director nominees, and officers 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. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has a then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Initial Business Combination
We will have up to 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination.
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However, we may hold a shareholder vote at any time to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to modify the amount of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination (as well as to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within the time periods described herein or with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity). As described herein, our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed that they will not propose any such amendment unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein.
If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in each case, to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
The rules of Nasdaq require our initial business combination to occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). We refer to this as the 80% of net assets test. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding 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 shareholders 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 issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-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 issued and outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target business or issue a substantial number of new shares to third-parties in connection with financing our initial business combination. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the
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aggregate value of all of the target businesses. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net assets test.
We will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
Business Combination Targets
We believe our management team’s significant operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring, financing and selling businesses, our management team’s relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions.
We believe this network provides our management team with a robust and consistent flow of acquisition opportunities which are proprietary or where a limited group of investors are invited to participate in the sale process. We believe that the network of contacts and relationships of our management team will provide us with important sources of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, directors or officers, or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, directors or officers. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, directors or officers, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
As more fully discussed in “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our directors and officers currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may overlap with their duties to us.
Our executive offices are located at 770 E Technology Way F13-16, Orem, UT 84097 and our telephone number is (415) 629-9066.
Mail addressed to the company and received at its registered office will be forwarded unopened to the forwarding address supplied by the company to be dealt with. None of the company or its directors, officers, advisors or service providers (including the organization which provides registered office services in the Cayman Islands) will bear any responsibility for any delay howsoever caused with regards to mail reaching the forwarding address.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer target businesses an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their equity securities, shares or shares of stock in the target business for our shares or for a combination of
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our shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $196,400,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $225,650,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of up to $8,050,000 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), in each case, after estimated offering expenses of $600,000 (and prior to any post-IPO working capital expenses), we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third-party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business
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combination or the redemptions of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.
We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account.
In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law or we decide to do so for business or other reasons, we would seek shareholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.
Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
The Nasdaq rules require our initial business combination to occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). We refer to this as the 80% of net assets test. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able independently to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information, which will be made available to us.
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The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business.
By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry.
Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
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solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or
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dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following our initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
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Under the rules of Nasdaq, shareholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
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we issue (other than in a public offering for cash) ordinary shares that will either (a) be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of Class A ordinary shares then issued and outstanding or (b) have voting power equal to or in excess of 20% of the voting power then outstanding;
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any of our directors, officers or substantial shareholders (as defined by Nasdaq rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 5% or more; or
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the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control.
The Companies Act and Cayman Islands law do not currently require, and we are not aware of any other applicable law that will require, shareholder approval of our initial business combination.
Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities
In the event we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of securities such persons may purchase. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such purchases or other transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or other transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions. Such persons will be subject to restrictions in making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. We will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to (1) refrain from purchasing securities during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (2) clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.
In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the initial business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) satisfy
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a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. Any such transactions may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of public shares) following our mailing of tender offer or proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination. Such persons would select the shareholders from whom to acquire shares based on the number of shares available, the negotiated price per share and such other factors as any such person may deem relevant at the time of purchase. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Any purchases by our sponsor, directors, officers and/or any of their respective affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will be restricted unless such purchases are made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, directors, officers and/or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of ordinary shares if such purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. At the completion of our initial business combination, we will be required to purchase any ordinary shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The anchor investors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (1) in connection with a
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general meeting called to approve the business combination or (2) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or voting power or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless shareholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
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conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and
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file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
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conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and
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file proxy materials with the SEC.
We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a preliminary proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any shareholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our Nasdaq listing or Exchange Act registration.
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of
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a majority of ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers also have agreed to vote in favor of our initial business combination with respect to public shares acquired by them, if any. Our anchor investors have agreed to vote in favor of our initial business combination with respect to founder shares acquired by them. We expect that at the time of any shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, anchor investors and their permitted transferees will own at least 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares without voting and, if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of a business combination. Our anchor investors have also agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them in connection with the completion of a business combination.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions. Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all public shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares, without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
We may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer
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agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a shareholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a preliminary proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by some blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, some blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the general meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or two business days prior to the scheduled date of the general meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable (unless we elect to allow additional withdrawal rights). Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a different business combination until the end of the completion window.
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Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination
Our sponsor, directors and officers have agreed that we will initially have only the completion window to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame.
Our initial shareholders, anchor investors, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our initial shareholders, directors or officers acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame.
Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $1,400,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.10. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.10. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account
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including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver only if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent auditors) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.10 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our directors or officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (1) $10.10 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.10 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $1,400,000 from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $600,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease
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by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $600,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
If we file a winding-up or bankruptcy petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable insolvency law, and may be included in our insolvency estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any insolvency claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.10 per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a winding-up or bankruptcy petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or insolvency laws as a voidable performance. As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants.
Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain a provision which provides that, if we seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such amendment. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that:
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prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either (1) seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination at a general meeting called for such purpose at which public shareholders may seek to redeem their public shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), or (2) provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to tender their public shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a shareholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), in each case subject to the limitations described herein;
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in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions;
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if we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company;
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if our initial business combination is not consummated within the completion window, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account; and
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prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional ordinary shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote as a class with our public shares on any initial business combination.
These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote in a general meeting. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we may consummate our initial business combination only if approved by a majority of the ordinary shares voted by our shareholders at a duly held general meeting.
Additionally, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and that holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in a general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.
Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with Our Initial Business Combination and If We Fail to Complete Our Initial Business Combination
The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window.
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Redemptions in
Connection with our Initial Business Combination |
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Other Permitted
Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates |
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Redemptions if we fail
to Complete an Initial Business Combination |
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Calculation of redemption price
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| | Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. In either case, our public shareholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the | | | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Such purchases will be restricted except to the extent such purchases are | | | If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per share), including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall | |
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| | | |
Redemptions in
Connection with our Initial Business Combination |
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Other Permitted
Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates |
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Redemptions if we fail
to Complete an Initial Business Combination |
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| | | | aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per share), including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination. | | | able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. | | | be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. | |
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Impact to remaining shareholders
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| | The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining shareholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and interest withdrawn in order to pay taxes (to the extent not paid from amounts accrued as interest on the funds held in the trust account). | | | If the permitted purchases described above are made, there will be no impact to our remaining shareholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us. | | | The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial shareholders, who will be our only remaining shareholders after such redemptions. | |
Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419
The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.
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Terms of Our Offering
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Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
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Escrow of offering proceeds
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| | The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. $202,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. | | | Approximately $170,100,000 of the offering proceeds, representing the gross proceeds of this offering less allowable underwriting commissions, expenses and company deductions under Rule 419, would be required to be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account. | |
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Investment of net proceeds
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| | $202,000,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. | | | Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States. | |
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Receipt of interest on escrowed funds
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| | Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to shareholders is reduced by (1) any taxes paid or payable and (2) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation. | | | Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination. | |
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Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business
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| | The Nasdaq rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust). | | | The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds. | |
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Trading of securities issued
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| | The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants constituting the units will begin separate trading | | | No trading of the units or the underlying ordinary shares and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the | |
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| | | |
Terms of Our Offering
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Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
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| | | | on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. | | | securities would be held in the escrow or trust account. | |
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Exercise of the warrants
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| | The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and 12 months from the closing of this offering. | | | The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account. | |
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Election to remain an investor
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| | We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest, which interest shall be net of taxes payable, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a shareholder vote. If we are not required by applicable law or stock exchange rules and do not otherwise decide to hold a shareholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will | | | A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a shareholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the shareholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the | |
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Terms of Our Offering
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Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
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| | | | contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, we hold a shareholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a shareholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a preliminary proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting and, if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. | | | escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued. | |
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Business combination deadline
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| | If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution | | | If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors. | |
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| | | |
Terms of Our Offering
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Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
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| | | | expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. | | | | |
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Release of funds
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Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the funds held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of:
(1) our completion of an initial business combination; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law.
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| | The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time. | |
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Terms of Our Offering
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Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
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Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a shareholder vote
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| | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect Excess Shares (more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering), without our prior consent. Our public shareholders’ inability to redeem Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and they could suffer a material loss on their investment in us if they sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. | | | Most blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of shareholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such shareholders in connection with an initial business combination. | |
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Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights
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| | We may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve our initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public | | | In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, holders could vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holders were seeking to exercise their redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholders to arrange for them to deliver their certificate to verify ownership. | |
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Terms of Our Offering
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Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
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| | | | shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. | | | | |
Competition
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, in the event we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we are obligated to pay cash to redeem our Class A ordinary shares, it will potentially reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Conflicts of Interest
Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Certain of our officers and directors have fiduciary and contractual duties to certain companies in which they have invested. These entities may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing such opportunities. Subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, none of the members of our management team who are also employed by our sponsor or its affiliates have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware. Our sponsor and directors and officers are also not prohibited from sponsoring, investing or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies, including in connection with their initial business combinations, prior to us completing our initial business combination.
Our management team, in their capacities as members, officers or employees of our sponsor or its affiliates or in their other endeavors, may choose to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future entities affiliated with or managed by our sponsor, or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands
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law and any other applicable fiduciary duties. We expect that if an opportunity is presented to one of our officers or directors in his or her capacity as an officer or director of one of those other entities, such opportunity would be presented to such other entity and not to us. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer basis, on the one hand, and us, on the other. For more information, see the section entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest.”
Each of our directors and officers 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, if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. See “Risk Factors—Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.
Indemnity
Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent auditors) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.10 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy their indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 770 E Technology Way F13-16, Orem, UT 84097. The cost for this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee that we will pay our sponsor for office space, utilities, secretarial, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have one officer and do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
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Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We will register our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public auditors.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to shareholders to assist them in assessing the target business. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, U.S. GAAP or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with PCAOB standards. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
Prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not
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previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Legal Proceedings
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such, and we and the members of our management team have not been subject to any such proceeding in the 12 months preceding the date of this prospectus.
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MANAGEMENT
Directors, Director Nominees and Officers
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Name
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Age
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Title
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Tony M. Pearce
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| | | | 65 | | | | Executive Chairman and Director | |
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Terry V. Pearce
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| | | | 72 | | | | Executive Vice-Chairman and Director | |
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Daniel S. Webb
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| | | | 36 | | | |
Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Director
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Lynn M. Laube
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| | | | 51 | | | | Director | |
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Tanner Ainge
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| | | | 37 | | | | Director | |
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Dave Crowder
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| | | | 55 | | | | Director | |
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Davis Smith
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| | | | 42 | | | | Director | |
Our directors, director nominees and officers are as follows:
Tony Pearce is our Executive Chairman and a Director. Mr. Pearce was a co-founder of Purple Innovation, LLC. He led Purple’s early entry into premium, direct-to-consumer products and built the company into one of the top eCommerce companies in the world. He served as the Co-CEO of Purple from its inception in 2010 as WonderGel, LLC through its meteoric launch in 2016, taking it public through a SPAC in February 2018. Together with his brother Terry Pearce, Mr. Pearce also served as Co-Director of Research & Development at Purple from 2016 to August 19, 2020, including during an 18-month period of time ending on January 29, 2019, when he was also voluntarily providing charitable service out of the country. Prior to founding Purple, Mr. Pearce was a manager of various technology companies owned by Mr. Pearce and his brother Terry Pearce, including EdiZONE, LLC, which focuses on developing advanced cushioning technology. From April 2020 until April 2021, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Brilliant Science LLC, an early-stage direct-to-consumer health and wellness company. Mr. Pearce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.
Terry Pearce is our Executive Vice Chairman and a Director. Mr. Pearce was a co-founder of Purple Innovation, LLC and served as Co-CEO of Purple from its inception in 2010 as WonderGel, LLC through its meteoric launch in 2016, taking it public through a SPAC in February 2018. Together with his brother Tony Pearce, Mr. Pearce also served as Co-Director of Research & Development at Purple from 2016 to August 19, 2020, including a period of time in 2018 when he also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer following the resignation of the company’s former Chief Executive Officer on March 13, 2018, and until Joseph Megibow joined the company as its Chief Executive Officer on October 1, 2018. Prior to founding Purple, Mr. Pearce was a manager of various technology companies owned by Mr. Pearce and his brother Tony Pearce, including EdiZONE, LLC, which focuses on developing advanced cushioning technology. Mr. Pearce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Utah.
Daniel Webb is our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and a Director. Mr. Webb was previously a technology investment banker and private equity investor having worked on transactions totaling approximately $40 billion in transaction value for disruptive internet companies. In his career as an investment banker at Bank of America and Citi, he advised leading technology companies on their IPOs such as Snap, Carvana, Pinterest, Delivery Hero, Arista Networks, Freescale Semiconductor, Fiverr, Grubhub, Cardlytics, Revolve, SurveyMonkey, Zulily, and Trivago. He also helped raise public and private capital for leading technology companies such as Microsoft, Pinterest, Costar, Thrasio, Fiverr, Fanatics, Grubhub, Cardlytics, Overstock, MakeMyTrip, Purple, GSV Capital, Paytm, Integral Ad Science, and Thrillist. In addition, he advised on one of the largest internet acquisitions in history, Just Eat Takeaway’s acquisition of Grubhub as well as other transactions such as Credit Karma’s sale to Intuit, Cardlytics’ acquisition of Dosh, Bonobos’ sale to Walmart, Reachlocal’s sale to Gannett, and Aristocrat Leisure’s acquisition of Plarium. Mr. Webb previously worked in private equity at HarbourVest Partners where he directed investments in Lightower Fiber Networks, Sidera Networks, and Confie Seguros. Mr. Webb holds a Master of Accountancy and Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Brigham Young University.
Lynne Laube is an Independent Director. Ms. Laube is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Cardlytics, and has been a member of the Board of Directors since the company was founded in 2008.
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Prior to her appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Cardlytics in 2020, Ms. Laube served as Chief Operating Officer. From 1994 to 2008, Ms. Laube held various positions at Capital One, including as a Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Capital One Payments. Ms. Laube started her career at Bank One Corporation, where she specialized in operations analysis. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for NerdWallet. Ms. Laube holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Marketing from University of Cincinnati’s College of Business and is a graduate of Darden’s Executive Leadership program from the University of Virginia.
Tanner Ainge is an Independent Director. Mr. Ainge is the Managing Partner of Banner Ventures, a private investment firm where his primary responsibilities include sourcing, underwriting, and overseeing a portfolio of private equity and growth-stage investments on behalf of a close-knit group of family offices and successful entrepreneurs. He also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Banner Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: BNNR). He most recently co-led a $52 million investment into Pattern, Inc. (“Pattern”), a rapidly growing provider of global e-Commerce solutions. From July 2018 to March 2020, Mr. Ainge led the mergers and acquisitions strategy for Outbox Systems, Inc. (d.b.a. “Simplus”), a Salesforce implementation partner and information technology company, including acquisitions in Europe and Asia and eventual merger of Simplus with Infosys Limited. (“Infosys Ltd”; NYSE: INFY) in March 2020. From July 2013 to August 2015, Mr. Ainge served as an executive of Ensign, where he managed the company’s acquisition pipeline and process, and then served as General Counsel of CareTrust REIT following its spin-off from Ensign. Mr. Ainge began his career in mergers and acquisitions with private equity firm HGGC LLC and later with the global law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He is also a judge advocate in the Utah National Guard and was appointed to the Governor’s Economic Development Board for the State of Utah in 2021. Mr. Ainge received a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Brigham Young University and a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law.
Dave Crowder is an Independent Director. Mr. Crowder is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Section Partners, a growth-stage venture capital firm providing personal financing solutions to founders, executives, and shareholders of venture-backed technology companies. Previously, Mr. Crowder served as Partner of GSV Asset Management, LLC and as executive officer of GSV Capital, a publicly traded late-stage venture capital fund. Prior to GSV Capital Dave was a General Partner of Thomas Weisel Venture Partners. Mr. Crowder began his career in investment banking at Montgomery Securities and Goldman Sachs. He is also a former Adjunct Professor of the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Utah and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Davis Smith is an Independent Director. Mr. Smith is the founder and CEO of Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear brand with a humanitarian mission backed by Bain Capital. He is a member of the United Nations Foundation’s Global Leadership Council and a Presidential Leadership Scholar. Mr. Smith previously started Brazil’s “Startup of the Year,” was Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s “CEO of the Year,” and is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Smith holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School, a Master of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University.
Number, Terms of Office and Appointment of Directors and Officers
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we expect that our board of directors will consist of seven members. Each of our directors will hold office for a two-year term. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares will have the right to appoint all of our directors and remove members of the board of directors for any reason in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in a general meeting. Subject to any other special rights applicable to the shareholders, any vacancies on our board of directors may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at the meeting of our board of directors or by a majority of the holders of our ordinary shares (or, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares).
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Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Financial Officer, Vice Presidents, a Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, a Treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
The rules of Nasdaq 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 that, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, shareholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we expect to have “independent directors” as defined in Nasdaq rules and applicable SEC rules prior to completion of this offering. Our board of directors has determined that each of Lynne Laube, Tanner Ainge, Dave Crowder and Davis Smith is an independent director as defined in Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules.
Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Officer and Director Compensation
None of our directors or officers have received from us any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on Nasdaq through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay affiliates of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial, administrative and support services. Our sponsor, directors and officers, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other compensation from the combined company. All compensation will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers after the completion of our initial business combination will be determined by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors.
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We are not party to any agreements with our directors and officers that provide for benefits upon termination of employment. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business, and we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination should be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our board of directors will have three standing committees: an audit committee; a compensation committee; and a nominating committee. Both our audit committee and our compensation committee will be composed solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules, the rules of Nasdaq and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and the rules of Nasdaq require that the compensation committee and the nominating committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Each committee will operate under a charter that will be approved by our board of directors and will have the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee will be available on our website following the closing of this offering.
Audit Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. The members of our audit committee will be . Tanner Ainge will serve as chairman of the audit committee. Under Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, all the directors on the audit committee must be independent.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail the purpose and principal functions of the audit committee, including:
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assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent auditor’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent auditors;
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the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent auditors and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us;
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pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;
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reviewing and discussing with the independent auditors all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;
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setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent auditors;
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setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
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obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent auditors describing (1) the independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues;
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meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent auditor, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”;
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reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and
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reviewing with management, the independent auditors, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.
Compensation Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors. The members of our compensation committee will be . will serve as chairman of the compensation committee.
We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the purpose and responsibility of the compensation committee, including:
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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;
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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;
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reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;
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implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;
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assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;
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approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees;
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producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and
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reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.
The charter will also provide 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 Nasdaq and the SEC.
Nominating Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a nominating committee of the board of directors. The members of our nominating committee
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will be . will serve as chair of the nominating committee. Under Nasdaq listing standards, all the directors on the nominating committee must be independent. Pursuant to Nasdaq’s phase-in rules for newly listed companies, we have 90 days from the date on which we are first listed on Nasdaq to have a majority of the nominating committee be independent, and one year from the date on which we are first listed on Nasdaq to have our nominating committee be fully independent. We intend to identify such additional independent directors as necessary to serve on the nominating committee within the applicable time period. We expect such additional directors to enter into a letter agreement substantially similar to the letter agreements signed by our directors included as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.
We will adopt a nominating committee charter, which will detail the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating committee, including:
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identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board of directors, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for appointment at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors;
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developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines;
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coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and
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reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary.
The charter will also provide that the nominating 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 shareholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
Prior to the closing of this offering, we will adopt a code of ethics and business conduct (our “Code of Ethics”) applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We will file a copy of our form of our Code of Ethics as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. You will be able to review this document by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and our website. In addition, a copy of our Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K. See “Where You Can Find Additional Information.” If we make any amendments to our Code of Ethics other than technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC or Nasdaq rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website. The information included on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Form S-1 or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our website are intended to be inactive textual references only.
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
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duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole;
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duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose;
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duty to not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion;
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duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders;
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duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and
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duty to exercise independent judgment.
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care, which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge, skill and experience which that director has.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders; provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our directors and officers 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, if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer on the one hand, and us, on the other. Our directors and officers are also not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. See “Risk Factors—Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.
Potential investors should also be aware of the following potential conflicts of interest:
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None of our directors or officers is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities.
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In the course of their other business activities, our directors and officers may become aware of investment and business opportunities that may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. For a complete description of our management’s other affiliations, see “—Directors, Director Nominees and Officers.”
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Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Our anchor investors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial shareholders, anchor investors, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our initial shareholders, anchor investors, directors or officers or any of their respective affiliates acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Pursuant to agreements that our initial shareholders, anchor investors, directors and officers have entered into with us, with certain limited exceptions including bona fide pledges, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial shareholders, anchor investors, if any, directors and officers until the earlier of: (1) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (2) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, amalgamation, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the ordinary shares underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and directors and officers may directly or indirectly own ordinary shares and warrants following this offering, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
•
Our initial shareholders, officers or directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a business combination and financing arrangements as we may obtain loans from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor, any initial shareholders or any of our officers or directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.
•
Our directors and officers may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide
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for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether to proceed with a particular business combination.
•
Our directors and officers may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such directors and officers was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.
Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our directors and officers have now and may have in the future similar legal obligations to other companies that would require them to present business opportunities to these companies. Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our directors, officers and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:
|
Individual
|
| |
Entity
|
| |
Entity’s Business
|
| |
Affiliation
|
|
| Tony Pearce | | | N/A | | | | | | | |
| Terry Pearce | | | N/A | | | | | | | |
| Daniel Webb | | | N/A | | | | | | | |
| Lynne Laube | | | Cardlytics | | | Advertising Platform | | | Chief Executive Officer; Board Member | |
| | | | NerdWallet | | | Personal Finance Company | | | Board Member | |
| Tanner Ainge | | | Banner Ventures | | | Venture Capital Firm | | | Managing Partner | |
| | | |
Banner Acquisition Corp.
|
| | Special Purpose Acquisition Company | | |
Chief Executive Officer
|
|
| Dave Crowder | | | Section Partners | | | Venture Capital Firm | | | Managing Partner | |
| Davis Smith | | | Cotopaxi | | | Outdoor Gear Company | | |
Chief Executive Officer
|
|
Accordingly, if any of the above directors or officers become aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the above entities to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer on the one hand, and us, on the other. We do not believe, however, that any of the foregoing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, directors or officers. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with such a company, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. Furthermore, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, be paid by the company any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. Further, commencing on the date our securities are first listed on Nasdaq, we will also pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per
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month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team. We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In addition, our sponsor or any of its affiliates may make additional investments in the company in connection with the initial business combination, although our sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or current intention to do so. If our sponsor or any of its affiliates elects to make additional investments, such proposed investments could influence our sponsor’s motivation to complete an initial business combination.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, (a) our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote any founder shares and public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination and (b) our anchor investors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), to vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Directors and Officers
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of directors and officers, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide for indemnification of our directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful neglect or willful default. We will enter into agreements with our directors and officers to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. We may purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our directors and officers against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our directors and officers.
Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced directors and officers.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’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.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
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PRINCIPAL SHAREHOLDERS
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:
•
each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares;
•
each of our directors, officers and director nominees; and
•
all our directors, officers and director nominees as a group.
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.
The post-offering ownership percentage column below assumes that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option, that our sponsor forfeits 750,000 founder shares and that it does not purchase units in this offering, and that there are 25,000,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding after this offering.
| | | |
Approximate Percentage of Issued and Outstanding
Ordinary Shares |
| |||||||||||||||
| | | |
Number of Shares
Beneficially Owned(2) |
| |
Before
Offering |
| |
After
Offering(2) |
| |||||||||
| Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5% or Greater Shareholders: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Sponsor, LLC (our sponsor)(3)
|
| | | | 5,000,000 | | | | | | 100% | | | | | | 20% | | |
| Directors & Officers: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
All directors, officers and director nominees as a group
(3 individuals) |
| | | | 5,000,000 | | | | | | 100% | | | | | | 20% | | |
*
Less than one percent.
(1)
Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp., 770 E Technology Way F13-16, Orem, UT 84097.
(2)
Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such ordinary shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities.” Shares beneficially owned by our sponsor include an aggregate of up to 1,250,000 founder shares that may be sold by our sponsor to certain anchor investors, at a purchase price of $0.005 per share. See “The Offering—Expression of Interest.”
(3)
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Sponsor, LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of the Class B ordinary shares reported herein. Daniel S. Webb, Terry Pearce and Tony Pearce, by virtue of their shared control over our sponsor, may be deemed to beneficially own shares held by our sponsor.
Immediately after this offering, our initial shareholders and anchor investors will beneficially own 100% of the founder shares and will have the right to appoint all of our directors prior to our initial business combination as a result of holding all of the founder shares. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to appoint any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. In addition, because of their ownership block, our initial shareholders and anchor investors may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a capitalization or share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect
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to our founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering.
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 8,000,000 (or 8,900,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($8,000,000 in the aggregate or $8,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees: (1) they will not be redeemable by us (except as described below under “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”); (2) they (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, as described below; (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (4) they (including the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights, as described below.
Our sponsor and our directors and officers are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for additional information regarding our relationships with our promoters.
Expression of Interest
The anchor investors (none of which are affiliated with any member of our management team, our sponsor, our board of directors or, to our knowledge, any other anchor investor and will not be so affiliated prior to receipt of founder shares in connection with their investments in us, if any) have expressed to us an interest in purchasing an aggregate of $198.6 million of the units in this offering at the offering price, and we have agreed to direct the underwriters to offer to the anchor investors up to such number of units and no more than 9.9% of the units in this offering per anchor investor. Further, each of the anchor investors is expected to enter into a separate agreement with our sponsor pursuant to which, subject to the conditions set forth therein, each such investor will agree to purchase 125,000 founder shares if the investor commits to purchase 9.9% of the units in this offering (93,750 founder shares if the investor acquires 7.5% of the units in this offering), in each case for approximately $0.005 per share. The obligation of our sponsor to sell such founder shares to each anchor investor is conditioned upon each such anchor investor purchasing all of the units in this offering, if any, it may be offered by the underwriters (which shall not exceed 9.9% of the units in this offering). The negotiations between our sponsor and each anchor investor were separate.
The anchor investors have not been granted any shareholder or other rights in addition to those afforded to our other public shareholders, and will only be sold founder shares subject to the same restrictions on transfer as are the founder shares owned by the Sponsor. The anchor investors will be obligated to vote their founder shares in favor of our initial business combination. However, unlike some anchor investor arrangements of other blank check companies, the anchor investors are not required to (i) hold any units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants they may purchase in this offering or thereafter for any amount of time or (ii) vote any Class A ordinary shares they may own at the applicable time in favor of our initial business combination. Otherwise, the anchor investors will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the units they may purchase in this offering as the rights afforded to our other public shareholders.
There can be no assurance that the anchor investors will acquire any units in this offering, or as to the amount of such units the anchor investors will retain, if any, prior to or upon the consummation of our initial business combination. In the event that the anchor investors purchase such units (either in this offering or after) and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, no affirmative
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votes from other public shareholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, because our anchor investors are not obligated to continue owning any public shares following the closing and are not obligated to vote any public shares in favor of our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that any of these anchor investors will be shareholders at the time our shareholders vote on our initial business combination, and, if they are shareholders, we cannot assure you as to how such anchor investors will vote on any business combination.
There can be no assurance that the anchor investors will acquire any units in this offering, or as to the amount of such units the anchor investors will retain, if any, prior to or upon the consummation of our initial business combination. In the event that the anchor investors purchase such units (either in this offering or after) and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, no affirmative votes from other public shareholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, because our anchor investors are not obligated to continue owning any public shares following the closing and are not obligated to vote any public shares in favor of our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that any of these anchor investors will be shareholders at the time our shareholders vote on our initial business combination.
Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants
The founder shares, private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the agreements with us to be entered into by our initial shareholders, anchor investors, directors and officers. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (1) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, amalgamation, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property, and (2) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) to our directors or officers, any affiliates or family members of any of our directors or officers, any members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual’s immediate family or an affiliate of such person, or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) in the case of a trust, by distribution to one or more of the permissible beneficiaries of such trust; (f) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (g) in the event of our liquidation prior to our completion of our initial business combination; (h) by virtue of the laws of Cayman Islands or our sponsor’s organizational documents, upon dissolution of our sponsor; or (i) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, amalgamation, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (f) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions. The sponsor of its permitted transferees may also pledge its founder shares pursuant to any bona fide pledging arrangement.
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and any warrants that may be issued on conversion of working capital loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and upon conversion of the founder shares or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to
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our Class A ordinary shares). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period as described under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.” We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
In March 2021, our sponsor subscribed for an aggregate of 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On September 17, 2021, our sponsor effected a surrender of 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the company for no consideration, resulting in a decrease in the number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding from 8,625,000 to 5,750,000, such that the total number of founder shares would represent 20% of the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of this offering (of which 750,000 Class B ordinary shares are subject to forfeiture if the underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option). If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a capitalization or share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 750,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent, if any, to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 8,000,000 (or 8,900,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1.00 per warrant ($8,000,000 in the aggregate or $8,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant may be exercised for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by it until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.
As more fully discussed in “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our directors and officers currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement with affiliates of our sponsor, pursuant to which we will pay a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial, administrative and support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. Accordingly, in the event the consummation of our initial business combination takes 18 months, affiliates of our sponsor will be paid a total of $180,000 ($10,000 per month) for office space, utilities, secretarial, administrative and support services and will be entitled to be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses.
Our sponsor, directors and officers, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, directors, officers or our or any of their respective affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of June 30, 2021, $174,605 was outstanding under the promissory note with our sponsor. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of March 31, 2022 and the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $600,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account. The value of our sponsor’s interest in this loan transaction corresponds to the principal amount outstanding under any such loan.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our
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directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a general meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive officer and director compensation.
We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans (if any), which is described under the heading “Principal Shareholders—Registration Rights.”
Related Party Policy
We have not yet adopted a formal policy for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions. Accordingly, the transactions discussed above were not reviewed, approved or ratified in accordance with any such policy.
Prior to the closing of this offering, we will adopt our Code of Ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board of directors) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our Code of Ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company.
In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter that we will adopt prior to the consummation of this offering, will be responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, directors or officers, or our or any of their respective affiliates.
These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our sponsor, directors or officers unless we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA another entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Furthermore, there will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made by us to our sponsor, directors or officers, or our or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none
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of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:
•
Repayment of an aggregate of up to $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;
•
Payment to affiliates of our sponsor of a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial, administrative and support services;
•
Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and
•
Repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our directors and officers to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender.
The above payments may be funded using the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account or, upon completion of the initial business combination, from any amounts remaining from the proceeds of the trust account released to us in connection therewith.
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and our affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act and common law of the Cayman Islands. Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which will be adopted upon the consummation of this offering, we will be authorized to issue 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value each, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value each, and 5,000,000 undesignated preference shares, $0.0001 par value each. The following description summarizes the material terms of our shares as set out more particularly in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.
Units
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of the company’s Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder.
The Class A ordinary shares and warrants constituting the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the Class A ordinary shares and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants. Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet of the company reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on
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Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering which will include this audited balance sheet. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
Ordinary Shares
Upon the closing of this offering 25,000,000 ordinary shares will be issued and outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 750,000 founder shares by our sponsor), including:
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20,000,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the units being offered in this offering; and
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5,000,000 Class B ordinary shares held by our initial shareholders and anchor investors.
If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a capitalization or share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering.
Class A ordinary shareholders and Class B ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders and vote together as a single class, except as required by law; provided, that, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint all of our directors and remove members of the board of directors for any reason in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and holders of our Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in a general meeting. Unless specified in the Companies Act, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our ordinary shares that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our shareholders (other than the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination), and, prior to our initial business combination, the affirmative vote of a majority of our founder shares is required to approve the appointment or removal of directors. Approval of certain actions will require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; such actions include amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approving a statutory merger or consolidation with another company. Directors are appointed for a term of two years. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the appointment of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the founder shares voted for the appointment of directors can appoint all of the directors prior to our initial business combination. Our shareholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Because our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of Class A ordinary shares which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our shareholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. We may not hold an annual general meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of
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taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial owner must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination or certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as described elsewhere in this prospectus. Permitted transferees of our initial shareholders, directors or officers will be subject to the same obligations. Our anchor investors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Unlike some blank check companies that hold shareholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, if a shareholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. However, the participation of our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public shareholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial shareholders and anchor investors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the ordinary shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our shareholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such shareholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such shareholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the business combination. As a result, such shareholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, (a) our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the
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terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination and (b) our anchor investors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), to vote their founder shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ and anchor investors’ founder shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 1,250,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have such initial business combination approved. In the event that our anchor investors purchase all of the $198.6 million of units that they have collectively expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, no affirmative votes from other public shareholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. Each anchor investor is obligated to vote all founder shares in favor of our initial business combination. However, because our anchor investors are not obligated to continue owning any public shares following the closing and are not obligated to vote any public shares in favor of our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that any of these anchor investors will be shareholders at the time our shareholders vote on our initial business combination, and, if they are shareholders, we cannot assure you as to how such anchor investors will vote on any business combination.
Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our initial shareholders, anchor investors, directors and officers have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our initial shareholders, anchor investors, directors or officers acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our shareholders at such time will be entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of shares, if any, having preference over the ordinary shares. Our shareholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights.
There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the ordinary shares, except that we will provide our shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.
Founder Shares
The founder shares are designated as Class B ordinary shares and are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same shareholder rights as public shareholders, except that: (1) prior to our initial business combination, only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason; (2) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions contained in a letter agreement that our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into with us, as described in more detail below; (3) pursuant to such
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letter agreement, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to waive: (i) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame); (4) the founder shares will automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described in more detail below; and (5) the founder shares are entitled to registration rights. If we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, (a) our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination and (b) our anchor investors have agreed to vote their founder shares in favor of our initial business combination.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in this offering and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which the Class B ordinary shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of all ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon the completion of this offering plus all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in our initial business combination. The term “equity-linked securities” refers to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for our Class A ordinary shares issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt.
Pursuant to a letter agreement that our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into with us, with certain limited exceptions including bona fide pledges, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our directors and officers and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, amalgamation, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. The founder shares owned by our anchor investors are subject to the same restrictions on transfer.
Register of Members
Under Cayman Islands law, we must keep a register of members and there shall be entered therein:
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the names and addresses of the members, a statement of the shares held by each member, and of the amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid, on the shares of each member and the voting rights of the shares of each member;
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whether voting rights are attached to the share in issue;
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the date on which the name of any person was entered on the register as a member; and
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the date on which any person ceased to be a member.
Under Cayman Islands law, the register of members of our company is prima facie evidence of the matters set out therein (i.e., the register of members will raise a presumption of fact on the matters referred to above unless rebutted) and a member registered in the register of members shall be deemed as a matter of Cayman Islands law to have legal title to the shares as set against its name in the register of members. Upon the closing of this public offering, the register of members shall be immediately updated to reflect the issue of shares by us. Once our register of members has been updated, the shareholders recorded in the register of members shall be deemed to have legal title to the shares set against their name. However, there are certain limited circumstances where an application may be made to a Cayman Islands court for a determination on whether the register of members reflects the correct legal position. Further, the Cayman Islands court has the power to order that the register of members maintained by a company should be rectified where it considers that the register of members does not reflect the correct legal position. If an application for an order for rectification of the register of members were made in respect of our ordinary shares, then the validity of such shares may be subject to re-examination by a Cayman Islands court.
Preference Shares
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize 5,000,000 preference shares and provide that preference shares may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without shareholder approval, issue preference shares with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the ordinary shares and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preference shares without shareholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preference shares issued and outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any preference shares, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No preference shares are being issued or registered in this offering.
Redeemable Warrants
Public Shareholders’ Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and 12 months from the closing of this offering, except as described below. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating thereto is available, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available, including
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in connection with a cashless exercise permitted as a result of a notice of redemption described below under “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”. No warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption is available. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the Class A ordinary share underlying such unit.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the issuance, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If any such registration statement has not been declared effective by the 60th business day following the closing of the initial business combination, holders of the warrants will have the right, during the period beginning on the 61st business day after the closing of the initial business combination and ending upon such registration statement being declared effective by the SEC, and during any other period when the company fails to have maintained an effective registration statement covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to exercise such warrants on a “cashless basis.” Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are, at the time of any exercise of a warrant, not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In the case of a cashless exercise, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant. The “fair market value” as used in the preceding sentence shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):
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in whole and not in part;
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at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
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upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and
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if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (which we refer to as the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”).
We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is
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then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A ordinary shares may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants:
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in whole and not in part;
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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 on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A ordinary shares (as defined below) except as otherwise described below;
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if, and only if, the Reference Value (as defined above under “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00”) 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 as described under the heading “—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”); and
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if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”), the private placement warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants, as described above.
During the period beginning on the date the notice of redemption is given, holders may elect to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The numbers in the table below represent the number of Class A ordinary shares that a warrant holder will receive upon such cashless exercise in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, based on the “fair market value” of our Class A ordinary shares on the corresponding redemption date (assuming holders elect to exercise their warrants and such warrants are not redeemed for $0.10 per warrant), determined for these purposes based on volume weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, and the number of months that the corresponding redemption date precedes the expiration date of the warrants, each as set forth in the table below. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the 10-trading day period described above ends.
Pursuant to the warrant agreement, references above to Class A ordinary shares shall include a security other than Class A ordinary shares into which the Class A ordinary shares have been converted or exchanged for in the event we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination. The numbers in the table below will not be adjusted when determining the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued upon exercise of the warrants if we are not the surviving entity following our initial business combination.
The share prices set forth in the column headings of the table below will be adjusted as of any date on which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant or the exercise price of a warrant is adjusted as set forth under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below. If the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant is adjusted, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal
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the share prices immediately prior to such adjustment, multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant immediately prior to such adjustment and the denominator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant as so adjusted. The number of shares in the table below shall be adjusted in the same manner and at the same time as the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant. If the exercise price of a warrant is adjusted, (a) in the case of an adjustment pursuant to the fifth paragraph under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the unadjusted share price multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price as set forth under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” and the denominator of which is $10.00 and (b) in the case of an adjustment pursuant to the second paragraph under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the unadjusted share price less the decrease in the exercise price of a warrant pursuant to such exercise price adjustment.
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Redemption Date
(period to expiration of warrants) |
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Fair Market Value of Class A Ordinary Shares
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≤10.00
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11.00
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12.00
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13.00
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14.00
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15.00
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16.00
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17.00
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≥18.00
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60 months
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| | | | 0.261 | | | | | | 0.281 | | | | | | 0.297 | | | | | | 0.311 | | | | | | 0.324 | | | | | | 0.337 | | | | | | 0.348 | | | | | | 0.358 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
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57 months
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| | | | 0.257 | | | | | | 0.277 | | | | | | 0.294 | | | | | | 0.310 | | | | | | 0.324 | | | | | | 0.337 | | | | | | 0.348 | | | | | | 0.358 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
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54 months
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| | | | 0.252 | | | | | | 0.272 | | | | | | 0.291 | | | | | | 0.307 | | | | | | 0.322 | | | | | | 0.335 | | | | | | 0.347 | | | | | | 0.357 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
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51 months
|
| | | | 0.246 | | | | | | 0.268 | | | | | | 0.287 | | | | | | 0.304 | | | | | | 0.320 | | | | | | 0.333 | | | | | | 0.346 | | | | | | 0.357 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
48 months
|
| | | | 0.241 | | | | | | 0.263 | | | | | | 0.283 | | | | | | 0.301 | | | | | | 0.317 | | | | | | 0.332 | | | | | | 0.344 | | | | | | 0.356 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
45 months
|
| | | | 0.235 | | | | | | 0.258 | | | | | | 0.279 | | | | | | 0.298 | | | | | | 0.315 | | | | | | 0.330 | | | | | | 0.343 | | | | | | 0.356 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
42 months
|
| | | | 0.228 | | | | | | 0.252 | | | | | | 0.274 | | | | | | 0.294 | | | | | | 0.312 | | | | | | 0.328 | | | | | | 0.342 | | | | | | 0.355 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
39 months
|
| | | | 0.221 | | | | | | 0.246 | | | | | | 0.269 | | | | | | 0.290 | | | | | | 0.309 | | | | | | 0.325 | | | | | | 0.340 | | | | | | 0.354 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
36 months
|
| | | | 0.213 | | | | | | 0.239 | | | | | | 0.263 | | | | | | 0.285 | | | | | | 0.305 | | | | | | 0.323 | | | | | | 0.339 | | | | | | 0.353 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
33 months
|
| | | | 0.205 | | | | | | 0.232 | | | | | | 0.257 | | | | | | 0.280 | | | | | | 0.301 | | | | | | 0.320 | | | | | | 0.337 | | | | | | 0.352 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
30 months
|
| | | | 0.196 | | | | | | 0.224 | | | | | | 0.250 | | | | | | 0.274 | | | | | | 0.297 | | | | | | 0.316 | | | | | | 0.335 | | | | | | 0.351 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
27 months
|
| | | | 0.185 | | | | | | 0.214 | | | | | | 0.242 | | | | | | 0.268 | | | | | | 0.291 | | | | | | 0.313 | | | | | | 0.332 | | | | | | 0.350 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
24 months
|
| | | | 0.173 | | | | | | 0.204 | | | | | | 0.233 | | | | | | 0.260 | | | | | | 0.285 | | | | | | 0.308 | | | | | | 0.329 | | | | | | 0.348 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
21 months
|
| | | | 0.161 | | | | | | 0.193 | | | | | | 0.223 | | | | | | 0.252 | | | | | | 0.279 | | | | | | 0.304 | | | | | | 0.326 | | | | | | 0.347 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
18 months
|
| | | | 0.146 | | | | | | 0.179 | | | | | | 0.211 | | | | | | 0.242 | | | | | | 0.271 | | | | | | 0.298 | | | | | | 0.322 | | | | | | 0.345 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
15 months
|
| | | | 0.130 | | | | | | 0.164 | | | | | | 0.197 | | | | | | 0.230 | | | | | | 0.262 | | | | | | 0.291 | | | | | | 0.317 | | | | | | 0.342 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
12 months
|
| | | | 0.111 | | | | | | 0.146 | | | | | | 0.181 | | | | | | 0.216 | | | | | | 0.250 | | | | | | 0.282 | | | | | | 0.312 | | | | | | 0.339 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
9 months
|
| | | | 0.090 | | | | | | 0.125 | | | | | | 0.162 | | | | | | 0.199 | | | | | | 0.237 | | | | | | 0.272 | | | | | | 0.305 | | | | | | 0.336 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
6 months
|
| | | | 0.065 | | | | | | 0.099 | | | | | | 0.137 | | | | | | 0.178 | | | | | | 0.219 | | | | | | 0.259 | | | | | | 0.296 | | | | | | 0.331 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
3 months
|
| | | | 0.034 | | | | | | 0.065 | | | | | | 0.104 | | | | | | 0.150 | | | | | | 0.197 | | | | | | 0.243 | | | | | | 0.286 | | | | | | 0.326 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
|
0 months
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | 0.042 | | | | | | 0.115 | | | | | | 0.179 | | | | | | 0.233 | | | | | | 0.281 | | | | | | 0.323 | | | | | | 0.361 | | |
The exact fair market value and redemption date may not be set forth in the table above, in which case, if the fair market value is between two values in the table or the redemption date is between two redemption dates in the table, the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued for each warrant exercised will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower fair market values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365 or 366-day year, as applicable. For example, if the volume weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $11.00 per share, and at such time there are 57 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.277 Class A ordinary shares for each whole warrant. For an example where the exact fair market value and redemption date are not as set forth in the table above, if the volume weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $13.50 per share, and at such time there are 38 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their
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warrants for 0.298 Class A ordinary shares for each whole warrant. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). Finally, as reflected in the table above, if the warrants are out of the money and about to expire, they cannot be exercised on a cashless basis in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, since they will not be exercisable for any Class A ordinary shares.
This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in other blank check offerings, which typically only provide for a redemption of warrants for cash (other than the private placement warrants) when the trading price for the Class A ordinary shares exceeds $18.00 per share for a specified period of time. This redemption feature is structured to allow for all of the outstanding warrants to be redeemed when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at or above $10.00 per share, which may be at a time when the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares is below the exercise price of the warrants. We have established this redemption feature to provide us with the flexibility to redeem the warrants without the warrants having to reach the $18.00 per share threshold set forth above under “—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00.” Holders choosing to exercise their warrants in connection with a redemption pursuant to this feature will, in effect, receive a number of shares for their warrants based on an option pricing model with a fixed volatility input as of the date of this prospectus. This redemption right provides us with an additional mechanism by which to redeem all of the outstanding warrants, and therefore have certainty as to our capital structure as the warrants would no longer be outstanding and would have been exercised or redeemed. We will be required to pay the applicable redemption price to warrant holders if we choose to exercise this redemption right and it will allow us to quickly proceed with a redemption of the warrants if we determine it is in our best interest to do so. As such, we would redeem the warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the warrants and pay the redemption price to the warrant holders.
As stated above, we can redeem the warrants when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing warrant holders with the opportunity to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis for the applicable number of shares. If we choose to redeem the warrants when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result in the warrant holders receiving fewer Class A ordinary shares than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for Class A ordinary shares if and when such Class A ordinary shares were trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50.
No fractional Class A ordinary shares will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the holder. If, at the time of redemption, the warrants are exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the warrant agreement (for instance, if we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination), the warrants may be exercised for such security. At such time as the warrants become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, the company (or surviving company) will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register under the Securities Act the security issuable upon the exercise of the warrants.
Redemption procedures. A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-dilution Adjustments. If the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares is increased by a capitalization or share dividend payable in Class A ordinary shares, or by a split-up of Class A ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such capitalization or share dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares. A rights offering made to all or substantially all holders of Class A ordinary shares entitling holders to purchase Class A ordinary shares at a price less than the “historical fair market value” (as defined below) will be deemed a share dividend of a number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the product of (1) the number of Class A ordinary shares actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities
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sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A ordinary shares) and (2) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per Class A ordinary share paid in such rights offering and (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes, (1) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A ordinary shares, in determining the price payable for Class A ordinary shares, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (2) “historical fair market value” means the volume weighted average price of Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the Class A ordinary shares trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay to all or substantially all of the holders of Class A ordinary shares a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A ordinary shares on account of such Class A ordinary shares (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) any cash dividends or cash distributions which, when combined on a per share basis with all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the Class A ordinary shares during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution does not exceed $0.50 (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) but only with respect to the amount of the aggregate cash dividends or cash distributions equal to or less than $0.50 per share, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each Class A ordinary share in respect of such event.
If the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse share sub-division or reclassification of Class A ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse share sub-division, reclassification or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
Whenever the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In addition, if (x) we issue additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “—Redemption of warrants
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when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” and “—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such Class A ordinary shares), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a merger or consolidation in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of our Class A ordinary shares immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares, stock or other equity securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such merger or consolidation, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such merger or consolidation that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer has been made to and accepted by such holders (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the company in connection with redemption rights held by shareholders of the company as provided for in the company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or as a result of the redemption of Class A ordinary shares by the company if a proposed initial business combination is presented to the shareholders of the company for approval) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) more than 50% of the issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares, the holder of a warrant will be entitled to receive the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a shareholder if such warrant holder had exercised the warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the Class A ordinary shares held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustment (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the warrant agreement. Additionally, if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A ordinary shares in such a transaction is payable in the form of ordinary shares in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within 30 days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the per share consideration minus Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant.
The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. The warrant agreement provides that (a) the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision or (ii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or
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questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants under the warrant agreement and (b) all other modifications or amendments require the vote or written consent of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants; provided that any amendment that solely affects the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement solely with respect to the private placement warrants will also require at least a majority of the then outstanding private placement warrants.
The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of ordinary shares and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive Class A ordinary shares. After the issuance of Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by shareholders.
No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade.
Exclusive Forum for Warrant Disputes
Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
Private Placement Warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our directors and officers and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor) and they will not be redeemable by us (except as described under “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”) so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. Our sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis and have certain registration rights described herein. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.
Except as described under “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00,” if holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the
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exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “Sponsor Fair Market Value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the sponsor fair market value. For these purposes, the “Sponsor Fair Market Value” shall mean the average last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor and its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that restrict insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public shareholders who could exercise their warrants and sell the Class A ordinary shares received upon such exercise freely in the open market in order to recoup the cost of such exercise, the insiders could be significantly restricted from selling such securities. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may loan us funds as may be required, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of this offering, in which case we will effect a capitalization or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our ordinary shares and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its shareholders, directors, officers and employees against all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.
Certain Differences in Corporate Law
Cayman Islands companies are governed by the Companies Act. The Companies Act is modeled on English Law but does not follow recent English Law statutory enactments, and differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the material differences between the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
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Mergers and Similar Arrangements. In certain circumstances, the Companies Act allows for mergers or consolidations between two Cayman Islands companies, or between a Cayman Islands exempted company and a company incorporated in another jurisdiction (provided that is facilitated by the laws of that other jurisdiction).
Where the merger or consolidation is between two Cayman Islands companies, the directors of each company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation containing certain prescribed information. That plan of merger or consolidation must then be authorized by either (a) a special resolution (usually a majority of 66 2∕3% in value who attend and vote at a general meeting) of the shareholders of each company; or (b) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent company’s articles of association. No shareholder resolution is required for a merger between a parent company (i.e., a company that owns at least 90% of the issued shares of each class in a subsidiary company) and its subsidiary company. The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest of a constituent company must be obtained, unless the court waives such requirement. If the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies is satisfied that the requirements of the Companies Act (which includes certain other formalities) have been complied with, the Registrar of Companies will register the plan of merger or consolidation.
Where the merger or consolidation involves a foreign company, the procedure is similar, save that with respect to the foreign company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (1) that the merger or consolidation is permitted or not prohibited by the constitutional documents of the foreign company and by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the foreign company is incorporated, and that those laws and any requirements of those constitutional documents have been or will be complied with; (2) that no petition or other similar proceeding has been filed and remains outstanding or order made or resolution adopted to wind up or liquidate the foreign company in any jurisdictions; (3) that no receiver, trustee, administrator or other similar person has been appointed in any jurisdiction and is acting in respect of the foreign company, its affairs or its property or any part thereof; and (4) that no scheme, order, compromise or other similar arrangement has been entered into or made in any jurisdiction whereby the rights of creditors of the foreign company are and continue to be suspended or restricted.
Where the surviving company is the Cayman Islands exempted company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are further required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (1) that the foreign company is able to pay its debts as they fall due and that the merger or consolidated is bona fide and not intended to defraud unsecured creditors of the foreign company; (2) that in respect of the transfer of any security interest granted by the foreign company to the surviving or consolidated company (a) consent or approval to the transfer has been obtained, released or waived; (b) the transfer is permitted by and has been approved in accordance with the constitutional documents of the foreign company; and (c) the laws of the jurisdiction of the foreign company with respect to the transfer have been or will be complied with; (3) that the foreign company will, upon the merger or consolidation becoming effective, cease to be incorporated, registered or exist under the laws of the relevant foreign jurisdiction; and (4) that there is no other reason why it would be against the public interest to permit the merger or consolidation.
Where the above procedures are adopted, the Companies Act provides for a right of dissenting shareholders to be paid a payment of the fair value of his or her shares upon their dissenting to the merger or consolidation if they follow a prescribed procedure. In essence, that procedure is as follows: (a) the shareholder must give his or her written objection to the merger or consolidation to the constituent company before the vote on the merger or consolidation, including a statement that the shareholder proposes to demand payment for his or her shares if the merger or consolidation is authorized by the vote; (b) within 20 days following the date on which the merger or consolidation is approved by the shareholders, the constituent company must give written notice to each shareholder who made a written objection; (c) a shareholder must within 20 days following receipt of such notice from the constituent company, give the constituent company a written notice of his or her intention to dissent including, among other details, a demand for payment of the fair value of his or her shares; (d) within seven days following the date of the expiration of the period set out in paragraph (b) above or seven days following the date on which the plan of merger or consolidation is filed, whichever is later, the constituent company, the surviving company or the
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consolidated company must make a written offer to each dissenting shareholder to purchase his or her shares at a price that the company determines is the fair value and if the company and the shareholder agrees to the price within 30 days following the date on which the offer was made, the company must pay the shareholder such amount; and (e) if the company and the shareholder fails to agree to a price within such 30-day period, within 20 days following the date on which such 30-day period expires, the company (and any dissenting shareholder) must file a petition with the Cayman Islands Grand Court to determine the fair value and such petition must be accompanied by a list of the names and addresses of the dissenting shareholders with whom agreements as to the fair value of their shares have not been reached by the company. At the hearing of that petition, the court has the power to determine the fair value of the shares together with a fair rate of interest, if any, to be paid by the company upon the amount determined to be the fair value. Any dissenting shareholder whose name appears on the list filed by the company may participate fully in all proceedings until the determination of fair value is reached. These rights of a dissenting shareholder are not to be available in certain circumstances, for example, to dissenters holding shares of any class in respect of which an open market exists on a recognized stock exchange or recognized interdealer quotation system at the relevant date or where the consideration for such shares to be contributed are shares of any company listed on a national securities exchange or shares of the surviving or consolidated company.
Moreover, Cayman Islands law also has separate statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction or amalgamation of companies in certain circumstances, such schemes of arrangement will generally be more suited for complex mergers or other transactions involving widely held companies, commonly referred to in the Cayman Islands as a “scheme of arrangement” which may be tantamount to a merger. In the event that a merger was sought pursuant to a scheme of arrangement (the procedures of which are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States), the arrangement in question must be approved by a majority in number of each class of shareholders and creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made and who must in addition represent three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at an annual general meeting, or an extraordinary general meeting, summoned for that purpose. The convening of the meetings and subsequently the terms of the arrangement must be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. While a dissenting shareholder would have the right to express to the court the view that the transaction should not be approved, the court can be expected to approve the arrangement if it is satisfied that:
•
we are not proposing to act illegally or beyond the scope of our corporate authority and we have complied with the statutory provisions as to majority vote;
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the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question;
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the arrangement is such as a business-person would reasonably approve; and
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the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Act or that would amount to a “fraud on the minority.”
If a scheme of arrangement or takeover offer (as described below) is approved, any dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to appraisal rights, which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of U.S. corporations, providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares.
Squeeze-out Provisions. When a takeover offer is made and accepted by holders of 90% of the shares to whom the offer relates within four months, the offeror may, within a two-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer such shares on the terms of the offer. An objection can be made to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, but this is unlikely to succeed unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith, collusion or inequitable treatment of the shareholders.
Further, transactions similar to a merger, reconstruction and/or an amalgamation may in some circumstances be achieved through other means to these statutory provisions, such as a share capital exchange, asset acquisition or control, through contractual arrangements, of an operating business.
Shareholders’ Suits. Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, is not aware of any reported class action having been brought in a Cayman Islands court. Derivative actions have been brought in the Cayman Islands courts, and the Cayman Islands courts have confirmed the
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availability of such actions. In most cases, we will be the proper plaintiff in any claim based on a breach of duty owed to us, and a claim against (for example) our directors or officers usually may not be brought by a shareholder. However, based both on Cayman Islands authorities and on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority and applied by a court in the Cayman Islands, exceptions to the foregoing principle apply in circumstances in which:
•
a company is acting, or proposing to act, illegally or beyond the scope of its authority;
•
the act complained of, although not beyond the scope of the authority, could be effected if duly authorized by more than the number of votes that have actually been obtained; or
•
those who control the company are perpetrating a “fraud on the minority.”
A shareholder may have a direct right of action against us where the individual rights of that shareholder have been infringed or are about to be infringed.
Enforcement of Civil Liabilities. The Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides less protection to investors. Additionally, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the federal courts of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (1) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state and (2) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, and or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
Special Considerations for Exempted Companies. We are an exempted company with limited liability under the Companies Act. The Companies Act distinguishes between ordinary resident companies and exempted companies. Any company that is registered in the Cayman Islands but conducts business mainly outside of the Cayman Islands may apply to be registered as an exempted company. The requirements for an exempted company are essentially the same as for an ordinary company except for the exemptions and privileges listed below:
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an exempted company does not have to file an annual return of its shareholders with the Registrar of Companies;
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an exempted company’s register of members is not open to inspection;
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an exempted company does not have to hold an annual general meeting;
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an exempted company may issue shares with no par value;
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an exempted company may obtain an undertaking against the imposition of any future taxation (such undertakings are usually given for 20 years in the first instance);
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an exempted company may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands;
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an exempted company may register as a limited duration company;
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an exempted company may register as a segregated portfolio company; and
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“Limited liability” means that the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount unpaid by the shareholder on the shares of the company (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstances in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil).
Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions (other than amendments relating to provisions governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, which require the approval of a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in a general meeting) cannot be amended without a special resolution. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a resolution is deemed to be a special resolution where it has been approved by either (1) holders of at least two-thirds (or any higher threshold specified in a company’s articles of association) of a company’s ordinary shares at a general meeting for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given or (2) if so authorized by a company’s articles of association, by a unanimous written resolution of all of the company’s shareholders. Other than as described above, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that special resolutions must be approved either by holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders.
Our initial shareholders and anchor investors, who collectively will beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that:
•
if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;
•
prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional ordinary shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote as a class with our public shares on any initial business combination;
•
although we do not intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view;
•
if a shareholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act;
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•
as long as our securities are listed on Nasdaq, our initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in trust (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust);
•
if our shareholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their ordinary shares upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares; and
•
we will not effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions.
The Companies Act permits a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands to amend its memorandum and articles of association with the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of such company’s issued and outstanding ordinary shares attending and voting at a general meeting. A company’s articles of association may specify that the approval of a higher majority is required but, provided the approval of the required majority is obtained, any Cayman Islands exempted company may amend its memorandum and articles of association regardless of whether its memorandum and articles of association provide otherwise. Accordingly, although we could amend any of the provisions relating to our proposed offering, structure and business plan which are contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we view all of these provisions as binding obligations to our shareholders and neither we, nor our directors or officers, will take any action to amend or waive any of these provisions unless we provide dissenting public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares.
Anti-Money Laundering—Cayman Islands
If any person in the Cayman Islands knows or suspects or has reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting that another person is engaged in criminal conduct or money laundering or is involved with terrorism or terrorist financing and property and the information for that knowledge or suspicion came to their attention in the course of business in the regulated sector, or other trade, profession, business or employment, the person will be required to report such knowledge or suspicion to (1) the Financial Reporting Authority of the Cayman Islands, pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands if the disclosure relates to criminal conduct or money laundering or (2) a police officer of the rank of constable or higher, or the Financial Reporting Authority, pursuant to the Terrorism Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, if the disclosure relates to involvement with terrorism or terrorist financing and property. Such a report shall not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise.
Data Protection—Cayman Islands
We have certain duties under the Data Protection Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands (the “Data Protection Act”) based on internationally accepted principles of data privacy.
In this subsection, “we”, “us,” “our” and the “Company” refers to Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. or our affiliates and/or delegates, except where the context requires otherwise.
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Privacy Notice
Introduction
This privacy notice puts our shareholders on notice that through your investment in the Company you will provide us with certain personal information which constitutes personal data within the meaning of the Data Protection Act(“personal data”).
Investor Data
We will collect, use, disclose, retain and secure personal data to the extent reasonably required only and within the parameters that could be reasonably expected during the normal course of business. We will only process, disclose, transfer or retain personal data to the extent legitimately required to conduct our activities on an ongoing basis or to comply with legal and regulatory obligations to which we are subject. We will only transfer personal data in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act, and will apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of the personal data and against the accidental loss, destruction or damage to the personal data.
In our use of this personal data, we will be characterized as a “data controller” for the purposes of the Data Protection Act, while our affiliates and service providers who may receive this personal data from us in the conduct of our activities may either act as our “data processors” for the purposes of the Data Protection Act may process personal information for their own lawful purposes in connection with services provided to us.
We may also obtain personal data from other public sources. Personal data includes, without limitation, the following information relating to a shareholder and/or any individuals connected with a shareholder as an investor: name, residential address, email address, contact details, corporate contact information, signature, nationality, place of birth, date of birth, tax identification, credit history, correspondence records, passport number, bank account details, source of funds details and details relating to the shareholder’s investment activity.
Who this Affects
If you are a natural person, this will affect you directly. If you are a corporate investor (including, for these purposes, legal arrangements such as trusts or exempted limited partnerships) that provides us with personal data on individuals connected to you for any reason in relation your investment in the Company, this will be relevant for those individuals and you should transmit the content of this Privacy Notice to such individuals or otherwise advise them of its content.
How the Company May Use a Shareholder’s Personal Data
The Company, as the data controller, may collect, store and use personal data for lawful purposes, including, in particular:
(a)
where this is necessary for the performance of our rights and obligations under any purchase agreements;
(b)
where this is necessary for compliance with a legal and regulatory obligation to which we are subject (such as compliance with anti-money laundering and FATCA/CRS requirements); and/or
(c)
where this is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests and such interests are not overridden by your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms.
Should we wish to use personal data for other specific purposes (including, if applicable, any purpose that requires your consent), we will contact you.
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Why We May Transfer Your Personal Data
In certain circumstances we may be legally obliged to share personal data and other information with respect to your shareholding with the relevant regulatory authorities such as the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority or the Tax Information Authority. They, in turn, may exchange this information with foreign authorities, including tax authorities.
We anticipate disclosing personal data to persons who provide services to us and their respective affiliates (which may include certain entities located outside the United States, the Cayman Islands or the European Economic Area), who will process your personal data on our behalf.
The Data Protection Measures We Take
Any transfer of personal data by us or our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates outside of the Cayman Islands shall be in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
We and our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates shall apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data, and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
We shall notify you of any personal data breach that is reasonably likely to result in a risk to your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms or those data subjects to whom the relevant personal data relates.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our authorized but unissued ordinary shares and preference shares are available for future issuances without shareholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved ordinary shares and preference shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Securities Eligible for Future Sale
Immediately after this offering we will have 25,000,000 (or 28,750,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) ordinary shares issued and outstanding. Of these shares, the 20,000,000 Class A ordinary shares (or 23,000,000 shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) sold in this offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the remaining 5,000,000 (or 5,750,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) founder shares and all 8,000,000 (or 8,900,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this prospectus.
Rule 144
Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted ordinary shares or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (1) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (2) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
Persons who have beneficially owned restricted ordinary shares or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:
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•
1% of the total number of ordinary shares then issued and outstanding, which will equal 250,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 287,500 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full); or
•
the average weekly reported trading volume of the ordinary shares during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.
Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.
Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies
Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:
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the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company;
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the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;
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the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Current Reports on Form 8-K; and
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at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company.
As a result, we expect that our initial shareholders and anchor investors will be able to sell their founder shares and our sponsor will be able to sell its private placement warrants, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration, one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and any warrants that may be issued on conversion of working capital loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A ordinary shares). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period as described under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.” We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Listing of Securities
We intend to apply to list our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants on Nasdaq under the symbols “WWAC.U,” “WWAC” and “WWAC.WS,” respectively. We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq promptly on or after the effective date of the registration statement. Following the date the Class A ordinary shares and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on Nasdaq. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq.
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INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
The following summary of certain Cayman Islands and U.S. federal income tax considerations relevant to an investment in our units, ordinary shares and warrants is based upon laws and relevant interpretations thereof in effect as of the date of this prospectus, all of which are subject to change. This summary does not deal with all possible tax consequences relating to an investment in our ordinary shares and warrants, such as the tax consequences under state, local and other tax laws and the tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of any securities received in exchange for our ordinary shares and/or warrants in connection with or in anticipation of any business combination.
Prospective investors should consult their professional advisors on the possible tax consequences of buying, holding or selling any securities under the laws of their country of citizenship, residence or domicile.
Cayman Islands Taxation
The following is a discussion on certain Cayman Islands income tax consequences of an investment in our securities. The discussion is a general summary of present law, which is subject to prospective and retroactive change. It is not intended as tax advice, does not consider any investor’s particular circumstances, and does not consider tax consequences other than those arising under Cayman Islands law.
Under Existing Cayman Islands Laws
Payments of dividends and capital in respect of our securities will not be subject to taxation in the Cayman Islands and no withholding will be required on the payment of a dividend or capital to any holder of the securities nor will gains derived from the disposal of the securities be subject to Cayman Islands income or corporate tax. The Cayman Islands currently has no income, corporate or capital gains tax and no estate duty, inheritance tax or gift tax.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of our securities or on an instrument of transfer in respect of our securities.
The company has been incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company with limited liability and, as such, has applied for and has received an undertaking from the Financial Secretary of the Cayman Islands in the following form:
The Tax Concessions Act
(As Revised)
Undertaking as to Tax Concessions
In accordance with the provision of Section 6 of The Tax Concessions Act (As Revised), the Financial Secretary undertakes with Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. (“the company”).
1. That no law which is hereafter enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to the company or its operations; and
2. In addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall be payable:
2.1 on or in respect of the shares, debentures or other obligations of the company; OR
2.2 by way of the withholding in whole or part, of any relevant payment as defined in Section 6(3) of the Tax Concessions Act (As Revised).
3. These concessions shall be for a period of 20 years from the date hereof.
U.S. Federal Income Taxation
General
The following discussion summarizes certain U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our units (each consisting of one ordinary share
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and one-half of one redeemable warrant) that are purchased in this offering by U.S. Holders (as defined below) and Non-U.S. Holders (as defined below). Because the components of a unit are generally separable at the option of the holder, the holder of a unit generally should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as the owner of the underlying ordinary share and warrant components of the unit.
This discussion is limited to certain U.S. federal income tax considerations to beneficial owners of our securities who are initial purchasers of a unit pursuant to this offering and hold the unit and each component of the unit as a capital asset within the meaning of Section 1221 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). This discussion assumes that the ordinary shares and warrants will trade separately and that any distributions made (or deemed made) by us on our ordinary shares and any consideration received (or deemed received) by a holder in consideration for the sale or other disposition of our securities will be in U.S. dollars. This discussion is a summary only and does not consider all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be relevant to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of a unit by a prospective investor in light of its particular circumstances, including:
•
financial institutions or financial services entities;
•
broker-dealers;
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taxpayers that are subject to the mark-to-market accounting rules;
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tax-exempt entities;
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governments or agencies or instrumentalities thereof;
•
insurance companies;
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regulated investment companies;
•
real estate investment trusts;
•
controlled foreign corporations;
•
passive foreign investment companies;
•
expatriates or former long-term residents of the United States;
•
persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more of our shares (by vote or value);
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persons that acquired our securities pursuant to an exercise of employee share options, in connection with employee share incentive plans or otherwise as compensation;
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persons that hold our securities as part of a straddle, constructive sale, hedging, conversion or other integrated or similar transaction; or
•
U.S. Holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar.
The discussion below is based upon the provisions of the Code, the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder and administrative and judicial interpretations thereof, all as of the date hereof, and such provisions may be repealed, revoked, modified or subject to differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis, so as to result in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those discussed below. Furthermore, this discussion does not address any aspect of U.S. federal non-income tax laws, such as gift, estate or Medicare contribution tax laws, or state, local or non-U.S. tax laws.
We have not sought, and will not seek, a ruling from the IRS as to any U.S. federal income tax consequence described herein. The IRS may disagree with the discussion herein, and its determination may be upheld by a court. Moreover, there can be no assurance that future legislation, regulations, administrative rulings or court decisions will not adversely affect the accuracy of the statements in this discussion.
As used herein, the term “U.S. Holder” means a beneficial owner of units, ordinary shares or warrants who or that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (1) an individual citizen or resident of the United States; (2) a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is created or organized (or treated as created or organized) in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; (3) an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal
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income taxation regardless of its source; or (4) a trust if (A) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust, or (B) it has in effect a valid election to be treated as a U.S. person.
If a beneficial owner of our securities is not described as a U.S. Holder and is not an entity treated as a partnership or other pass-through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such owner will be considered a “Non-U.S. Holder.” The U.S. federal income tax consequences applicable specifically to Non-U.S. Holders are described below under the heading “Non-U.S. Holders.”
This discussion does not consider the tax treatment of partnerships or other pass-through entities or persons who hold our securities through such entities. If a partnership (or other entity or arrangement classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) is the beneficial owner of our securities, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a partner in the partnership generally will depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. Partnerships holding our securities and partners in such partnerships are urged to consult their own tax advisors.
THIS DISCUSSION IS ONLY A SUMMARY OF THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES. EACH PROSPECTIVE INVESTOR IN OUR SECURITIES IS URGED TO CONSULT ITS OWN TAX ADVISOR WITH RESPECT TO THE PARTICULAR TAX CONSEQUENCES TO SUCH INVESTOR OF THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES, INCLUDING THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF ANY STATE, LOCAL, AND NON-U.S. TAX LAWS, AS WELL AS U.S. FEDERAL TAX LAWS AND ANY APPLICABLE TAX TREATIES.
Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit
There is no statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addressing the treatment, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, of securities with terms substantially the same as the units. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant to acquire one ordinary share. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner and, by purchasing a unit, you agree to adopt such treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant that comprise the unit based on their respective relative fair market values at the time of issuance. A holder’s initial tax basis in the ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant included in each unit should equal the portion of the purchase price of the unit allocated thereto. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant based on their respective relative fair market values at the time of disposition. The separation of the ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant comprising a unit should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
The foregoing treatment of our ordinary shares and warrants and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts. Because there are no authorities that directly address instruments that are similar to the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Accordingly, each holder is advised to consult its own tax advisor regarding the risks associated with an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit) and regarding an allocation of the purchase price among the ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant that comprise a unit. The balance of this discussion generally assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
U.S. Holders
Taxation of Distributions
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a U.S. Holder generally will be required to include in gross income as dividends the amount of any distribution paid on our ordinary shares. A distribution on
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such shares generally will be treated as a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent the distribution is paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles). Such dividends paid by us will be taxable to a corporate U.S. Holder at the regular corporate rate and will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction generally allowed to domestic corporations in respect of dividends received from other domestic corporations.
Distributions in excess of such earnings and profits generally will be applied against and reduce the U.S. Holder’s basis in its ordinary shares (but not below zero) and, to the extent in excess of such basis, will be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of such ordinary shares.
With respect to non-corporate U.S. Holders, dividends will be taxed at the lower applicable long-term capital gains rate (see “—Taxation on the Disposition of Ordinary Shares and Warrants” below) only if our ordinary shares are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States (which they will be if our shares are traded on Nasdaq) and certain other requirements are met, including that we are not classified as a PFIC during the taxable year in which the dividend is paid or the preceding taxable year. U.S. Holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the availability of the lower rate for any dividends paid with respect to our ordinary shares.
Possible Constructive Distributions
The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events. An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. However, U.S. Holders of the warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the warrant holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of ordinary shares that would be obtained upon exercise) as a result of a distribution of cash to the holders of our ordinary shares which is taxable to the holders of such ordinary shares as a distribution. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as if the U.S. Holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest.
Taxation on the Disposition of Ordinary Shares and Warrants
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, upon a sale or other taxable disposition of our ordinary shares or warrants which, in general, would include a redemption of ordinary shares as described below, and including as a result of a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss. The amount of gain or loss recognized generally will be equal to the difference between (1) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the ordinary shares or warrants are held as part of units at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the ordinary shares or warrants based upon the then fair market values of the ordinary shares and the warrants included in the units) and (2) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its ordinary shares or warrants so disposed of. A U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its ordinary shares or warrants generally will equal the U.S. Holder’s acquisition cost (that is, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to an ordinary share or one-half of one warrant, as described above under “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) reduced by any prior distributions treated as a return of capital. See “—Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant” below for a discussion regarding a U.S. Holder’s basis in an ordinary share acquired pursuant to the exercise of a warrant.
Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. Holders are generally subject to U.S. federal income tax at a reduced rate of tax. Capital gain or loss will constitute long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the ordinary shares or warrants exceeds one year. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the ordinary shares described in this prospectus may cause the holding period of a U.S. Holder not to commence, for this purpose, until such redemption rights expire. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to various limitations that are not described herein because a discussion of such limitations depends on each U.S. Holder’s particular facts and circumstances.
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Redemption of Ordinary Shares
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, if a U.S. Holder’s ordinary shares are redeemed pursuant to the exercise of a shareholder redemption right or if we purchase a U.S. Holder’s ordinary shares in an open market transaction, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such redemption will be subject to the following rules. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of the ordinary shares under Section 302 of the Code, the tax treatment of such redemption will be as described under “—Taxation on the Disposition of Ordinary Shares and Warrants” above. Whether a redemption of our shares qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of our ordinary shares treated as held by such U.S. Holder (including any shares constructively owned as a result of, among other things, owning warrants) both before and after such redemption. The redemption of ordinary shares generally will be treated as a sale or exchange of the ordinary shares (rather than as a distribution) if the receipt of cash upon the redemption (1) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to a U.S. Holder, (2) results in a “complete termination” of such holder’s interest in us or (3) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to such holder. These tests are explained more fully below.
In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are satisfied, a U.S. Holder must take into account not only our ordinary shares actually owned by such holder, but also our ordinary shares that are constructively owned by such holder. A U.S. Holder may constructively own, in addition to our ordinary shares owned directly, ordinary shares owned by related individuals and entities in which such holder has an interest or that have an interest in such holder, as well as any ordinary shares such holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include ordinary shares which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of warrants. In order to meet the substantially disproportionate test, the percentage of our outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by a U.S. Holder immediately following the redemption of our ordinary shares must, among other requirements, be less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting and ordinary shares actually and constructively owned by such holder immediately before the redemption. Prior to our initial business combination the ordinary shares may not be treated as voting shares for this purpose and, consequently, this substantially disproportionate test may not be applicable. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. Holder’s interest if either (1) all of our ordinary shares actually and constructively owned by such U.S. Holder are redeemed or (2) all of our ordinary shares actually owned by such U.S. Holder are redeemed and such holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives, in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of shares owned by family members and such holder does not constructively own any other shares. The redemption of the ordinary shares will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend if such redemption results in a “meaningful reduction” of a U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. However, the IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority shareholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a “meaningful reduction.” U.S. Holders should consult with their own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of an exercise of the redemption right.
If none of the foregoing tests are satisfied, then the redemption may be treated as a distribution and the tax effects will be as described under “—Taxation of Distributions,” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis a U.S. Holder has in the redeemed ordinary shares will be added to the adjusted tax basis in such holder’s remaining ordinary shares. If there are no remaining ordinary shares, a U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisors as to the allocation of any remaining basis.
U.S. Holders who actually or constructively own five percent (or, if ordinary shares are not then considered publicly traded, one percent) or more of our shares (by vote or value) may be subject to special reporting requirements with respect to a redemption of ordinary shares, and such holders should consult with their own tax advisors with respect to their reporting requirements.
Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below and except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. Holder generally will not recognize gain or loss upon the exercise of a warrant for cash. An ordinary share acquired pursuant to the exercise of a warrant for cash generally will have a tax basis equal to the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrant, increased by the amount paid to exercise
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the warrant. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the ordinary share will commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrant. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the warrant.
The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current U.S. federal income tax law. A cashless exercise may be tax-free, either because the exercise is not a realization event or because the exercise is treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either tax-free situation, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the ordinary shares received generally would equal the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrants. If the cashless exercise was not a realization event, it is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the ordinary shares would be treated as commencing on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the ordinary shares would include the holding period of the warrants.
It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated as part of a deemed exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized. In such event, a U.S. Holder could be deemed to have surrendered warrants with an aggregate fair market value equal to the exercise price for the total number of ordinary shares received in the cashless exercise, in which case the U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in such warrants. (Deemed exchanges involving warrants having a fair market value equal to a different amount of cash are also possible.) In the case of any such deemed exchange, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the ordinary shares received would equal the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the warrants exercised (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for the units that is allocated to warrants, as described above under “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the amount of cash deemed received in exchange for the warrants deemed surrendered. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the ordinary shares would commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant.
Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.
While not free from doubt, a redemption of warrants for ordinary shares described in the section entitled “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” should be treated as a “recapitalization” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, subject to the PFIC rules described below, a U.S. Holder should not recognize any gain or loss on the redemption of warrants for ordinary shares. In such event, a U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in the ordinary shares received in the redemption generally should equal the U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in the warrants redeemed and the holding period for the ordinary shares received should include the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the surrendered warrants. However, it is possible such a redemption could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized in a manner similar to that discussed above for a cashless exercise of warrants. Accordingly, a U.S. Holder is urged to consult its tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of a redemption of warrants for ordinary shares.
Subject to the PFIC rules described below, if we redeem warrants for cash pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction, such redemption or purchase generally will be treated as a taxable disposition to the U.S. Holder, taxed as described above under “—Taxation on the Disposition of Ordinary Shares and Warrants.” We intend to treat the exercise of a warrant occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrant for $0.10 as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” as if we redeemed such warrant for shares as described in the immediately preceding paragraph. However, if the redemption were instead to be characterized for U.S. federal income tax purposes as an exercise of the
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warrant (which we do not expect), then the tax treatment would instead be treated as described above in the first paragraph under “U.S. Holders—Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant.”
Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules
A foreign (i.e., non-U.S.) corporation will be a PFIC for U.S. tax purposes if at least 75% of its gross income in a taxable year, including its pro rata share of the gross income of any corporation in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, is passive income. Alternatively, a foreign corporation will be a PFIC if at least 50% of its assets in a taxable year of the foreign corporation, ordinarily determined based on fair market value and averaged quarterly over the year, including its pro rata share of the assets of any corporation in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, are held for the production of, or produce, passive income. Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, rents and royalties (other than rents or royalties derived from the active conduct of a trade or business) and gains from the disposition of passive assets.
Because we are a blank check company, with no current active business, we believe that it is likely that we will meet the PFIC asset or income test for our current taxable year. However, pursuant to a start-up exception, a corporation will not be a PFIC for the first taxable year the corporation has gross income (the “start-up year”), if (1) no predecessor of the corporation was a PFIC; (2) the corporation satisfies to the IRS that it will not be a PFIC for either of the two taxable years following the start-up year; and (3) the corporation is not in fact a PFIC for either of those years. The applicability of the start-up exception to us will not be known until after the close of our current taxable year and, possibly, after the close of our two subsequent taxable years. After the acquisition of a company or assets in a business combination, we may still meet one of the PFIC tests depending on the timing of the acquisition and the amount of our passive income and assets as well as the passive income and assets of the acquired business. If the company that we acquire in a business combination is a PFIC, then we will likely not qualify for the start-up exception and will be a PFIC for our current taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for our current taxable year or any future taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Accordingly, there can be no assurance with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any future taxable year.
If we are determined to be a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder of our ordinary shares or warrants and, in the case of our ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder did not make either a timely qualified electing fund (“QEF”) election or a mark-to-market election for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which the U.S. Holder held (or was deemed to hold) ordinary shares, as described below, such holder generally will be subject to special rules with respect to:
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any gain recognized by the U.S. Holder on the sale or other disposition of its ordinary shares or warrants; and
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any “excess distribution” made to the U.S. Holder (generally, any distributions to such U.S. Holder during a taxable year of the U.S. Holder, other than the taxable year in which the U.S. Holder’s holding period in the ordinary shares begins, that are greater than 125% of the average annual distributions received by such U.S. Holder in respect of the ordinary shares during the three preceding taxable years of such U.S. Holder or, if shorter, the portion of such U.S. Holder’s holding period for the ordinary shares before the current taxable year).
Under these rules,
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the U.S. Holder’s gain or excess distribution will be allocated ratably over the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the ordinary shares and warrants;
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the amount allocated to the U.S. Holder’s taxable year in which the U.S. Holder recognized the gain or received the excess distribution, or to the period in the U.S. Holder’s holding period before the first day of our first taxable year in which we are a PFIC, will be taxed as ordinary income;
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the amount allocated to other taxable years (or portions thereof) of the U.S. Holder and included in its holding period will be taxed at the highest tax rate in effect for that year and applicable to the U.S. Holder; and
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the interest charge generally applicable to underpayments of tax will be imposed in respect of the tax attributable to each such other taxable year of the U.S. Holder.
In general, if we are determined to be a PFIC, a U.S. Holder may avoid the PFIC tax consequences described above in respect to our ordinary shares (but not our warrants) by making a timely QEF election (if eligible to do so) to include in income its pro rata share of our net capital gains (as long-term capital gain) and other earnings and profits (as ordinary income), on a current basis, in each case whether or not distributed, in the taxable year of the U.S. Holder in which or with which our taxable year ends.
A U.S. Holder generally may make a separate election to defer the payment of taxes on undistributed income inclusions under the QEF rules, but if deferred, any such taxes will be subject to an interest charge. A U.S. Holder may not make a QEF election with respect to its warrants to acquire our ordinary shares. As a result, if a U.S. Holder sells or otherwise disposes of such warrants (other than upon exercise of such warrants), any gain recognized generally will be subject to the special tax and interest charge rules treating the gain as an excess distribution, as described above, if we were a PFIC at any time during the period the U.S. Holder held the warrants. If a U.S. Holder that exercises such warrants properly makes a QEF election with respect to the newly acquired ordinary shares (or has previously made a QEF election with respect to our ordinary shares), the QEF election will apply to the newly acquired ordinary shares, but the adverse tax consequences relating to PFIC shares, adjusted to take into account the current income inclusions resulting from the QEF election, will continue to apply with respect to such newly acquired ordinary shares (which generally will be deemed to have a holding period for purposes of the PFIC rules that includes the period the U.S. Holder held the warrants), unless the U.S. Holder makes a purging election. The purging election creates a deemed sale of such shares at their fair market value. The gain recognized by the purging election will be subject to the special tax and interest charge rules treating the gain as an excess distribution, as described above. As a result of the purging election, the U.S. Holder will have a new basis and holding period in the ordinary shares acquired upon the exercise of the warrants for purposes of the PFIC rules.
The QEF election is made on a shareholder-by-shareholder basis and, once made, can be revoked only with the consent of the IRS. A U.S. Holder generally makes a QEF election by attaching a completed IRS Form 8621 (Information Return by a Shareholder of a Passive Foreign Investment Company or Qualified Electing Fund), including the information provided in a PFIC Annual Information Statement, to a timely filed U.S. federal income tax return for the tax year to which the election relates. Retroactive QEF elections generally may be made only by filing a protective statement with such return and if certain other conditions are met or with the consent of the IRS. U.S. Holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the availability and tax consequences of a retroactive QEF election under their particular circumstances.
In order to comply with the requirements of a QEF election, a U.S. Holder must receive a PFIC Annual Information Statement from us. If we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the IRS may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a QEF election. However, there is no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of our status as a PFIC in the future or of the required information to be provided.
If a U.S. Holder has made a QEF election with respect to our ordinary shares, and the special tax and interest charge rules do not apply to such shares (because of a timely QEF election for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which the U.S. Holder holds (or is deemed to hold) such shares or a purge of the PFIC taint pursuant to a purging election, as described above), any gain recognized on the sale of our ordinary shares generally will be taxable as capital gain and no interest charge will be imposed under the PFIC rules. As discussed above, U.S. Holders of a QEF are currently taxed on their pro rata shares of its earnings and profits, whether or not distributed. In such case, a subsequent distribution of such earnings and profits that were previously included in income generally should not be taxable as a dividend to such U.S. Holders. The tax basis of a U.S. Holder’s shares in a QEF will be increased by amounts that are included in income, and decreased by amounts distributed but not taxed as dividends, under the above rules.
Although a determination as to our PFIC status will be made annually, an initial determination that our company is a PFIC will generally apply for subsequent years to a U.S. Holder who held ordinary shares or warrants while we were a PFIC, whether or not we meet the test for PFIC status in those
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subsequent years. A U.S. Holder who makes the QEF election discussed above for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which the U.S. Holder holds (or is deemed to hold) our ordinary shares, however, will not be subject to the PFIC tax and interest charge rules discussed above in respect to such shares. In addition, such U.S. Holder will not be subject to the QEF inclusion regime with respect to such shares for any taxable year of ours that ends within or with a taxable year of the U.S. Holder and in which we are not a PFIC. On the other hand, if the QEF election is not effective for each of our taxable years in which we are a PFIC and the U.S. Holder holds (or is deemed to hold) our ordinary shares, the PFIC rules discussed above will continue to apply to such shares unless the holder makes a purging election, as described above, and pays the tax and interest charge with respect to the gain inherent in such shares attributable to the pre-QEF election period.
Alternatively, if a U.S. Holder, at the close of its taxable year, owns shares in a PFIC that are treated as marketable stock, the U.S. Holder may make a mark-to-market election with respect to such shares for such taxable year. If the U.S. Holder makes a valid mark-to-market election for the first taxable year of the U.S. Holder in which the U.S. Holder holds (or is deemed to hold) ordinary shares in us and for which we are determined to be a PFIC, such holder generally will not be subject to the PFIC rules described above in respect to its ordinary shares. Instead, in general, the U.S. Holder will include as ordinary income each year the excess, if any, of the fair market value of its ordinary shares at the end of its taxable year over the adjusted basis in its ordinary shares. Such a U.S. Holder also will be allowed to take an ordinary loss in respect of the excess, if any, of the adjusted basis of its ordinary shares over the fair market value of its ordinary shares at the end of its taxable year (but only to the extent of the net amount of previously included income as a result of the mark-to-market election). Such U.S. Holder’s basis in its ordinary shares will be adjusted to reflect any such income or loss amounts, and any further gain recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition of the ordinary shares will be treated as ordinary income. Any loss recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition of the ordinary shares will be treated as ordinary loss to the extent of the net amount of previously included income as a result of the mark-to-market election and thereafter as capital loss. Currently, a mark-to-market election may not be made with respect to our warrants.
The mark-to-market election is available only for stock that is regularly traded on a national securities exchange that is registered with the SEC, including Nasdaq, or on a foreign exchange or market that the IRS determines has rules sufficient to ensure that the market price represents a legitimate and sound fair market value. U.S. Holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the availability and tax consequences of a mark-to-market election in respect to our ordinary shares under their particular circumstances.
If we are a PFIC and, at any time, have a foreign subsidiary that is classified as a PFIC, U.S. Holders generally would be deemed to own a portion of the shares of such lower-tier PFIC, and generally could incur liability for the deferred tax and interest charge described above if we receive a distribution from, or dispose of all or part of our interest in, the lower-tier PFIC or the U.S. Holders otherwise were deemed to have disposed of an interest in the lower-tier PFIC. We will endeavor to cause any lower-tier PFIC to provide to a U.S. Holder the information that may be required to make or maintain a QEF election with respect to the lower-tier PFIC. However, there is no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of the status of any such lower-tier PFIC. In addition, we may not hold a controlling interest in any such lower-tier PFIC and thus there can be no assurance we will be able to cause the lower-tier PFIC to provide the required information. U.S. Holders are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the tax issues raised by lower-tier PFICs.
A U.S. Holder that owns (or is deemed to own) shares in a PFIC during any taxable year of the U.S. Holder, may have to file an IRS Form 8621 (whether or not a QEF or mark-to-market election is made) and such other information as may be required by the U.S. Treasury Department.
The rules dealing with PFICs and with the QEF and mark-to-market elections are very complex and are affected by various factors in addition to those described above. Accordingly, U.S. Holders of our ordinary shares or warrants should consult their own tax advisors concerning the application of the PFIC rules to our ordinary shares or warrants under their particular circumstances.
Tax Reporting
Certain U.S. Holders may be required to file an IRS Form 926 (Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation) to report a transfer of property (including cash) to us. Substantial
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penalties may be imposed on a U.S. Holder that fails to comply with this reporting requirement. Furthermore, certain U.S. Holders who are individuals and certain entities will be required to report information with respect to such U.S. Holder’s investment in “specified foreign financial assets,” which may include an interest in us, on IRS Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets), subject to certain exceptions. Persons who are required to report specified foreign financial assets and fail to do so may be subject to substantial penalties. Potential investors are urged to consult their tax advisers regarding the foreign financial asset and other reporting obligations and their application to an investment in our securities.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding
Information reporting requirements generally will apply to dividends paid to a U.S. Holder and to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of our units, ordinary shares or warrants, unless the U.S. Holder is an exempt recipient and certifies to such exempt status. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. Holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number or a certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn).
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Rather, the U.S. federal income tax liability (if any) of persons subject to backup withholding may be reduced by the amount of tax withheld. If backup withholding results in an overpayment of taxes, a refund may be obtained, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
Non-U.S. Holders
Dividends (including constructive distributions) paid or deemed paid to a Non-U.S. Holder in respect to its ordinary shares generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax, unless the dividends are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, are attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base that such holder maintains in the United States).
In addition, a Non-U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain attributable to a sale or other disposition of our ordinary shares and warrants unless such gain is effectively connected with its conduct of a trade or business in the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, is attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base that such holder maintains in the United States) or the Non-U.S. Holder is an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of sale or other disposition and certain other conditions are met (in which case, such gain from United States sources generally is subject to tax at a 30% rate or a lower applicable tax treaty rate).
Dividends (including constructive distributions) and gains that are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business in the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, are attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base in the United States) generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the same regular U.S. federal income tax rates applicable to a comparable U.S. Holder and, in the case of a Non-U.S. Holder that is a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, also may be subject to an additional branch profits tax at a 30% rate or a lower applicable tax treaty rate.
The U.S. federal income tax characterization of the redemption of a Non-U.S. Holder’s ordinary shares generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. Holder’s ordinary shares, as described under “U.S. Holders—Redemption of Ordinary Shares” above, and the consequences of the redemption to the Non-U.S. Holder will be as described above under this heading “Non-U.S. Holders” based on such characterization.
The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a Non-U.S. Holder’s exercise of a warrant, the lapse of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. Holder or the redemption of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. Holder generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise, lapse or redemption of a warrant by a U.S. Holder, as described under “U.S. Holders—Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant” above, although to the extent a cashless exercise results in a taxable exchange, the consequences would be similar to
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those described in the preceding paragraphs above for a Non-U.S. Holder’s gain on the sale or other disposition of our ordinary shares and warrants.
The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of ordinary shares for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events. An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. However, the Non-U.S. Holders of the warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the warrant holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of ordinary shares that would be obtained upon exercise) as a result of a distribution of cash to the holders of our ordinary shares which is taxable to the holders of such ordinary shares as a distribution. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as if the Non-U.S. Holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest.
Dividend payments with respect to our ordinary shares and proceeds from the sale, exchange or redemption of our units, ordinary shares or warrants may be subject to information reporting to the IRS and possible U.S. backup withholding. A Non-U.S. Holder generally will eliminate the requirement for information reporting and backup withholding by providing certification of its foreign status, under penalties of perjury, on a duly executed applicable IRS Form W-8 or by otherwise establishing an exemption.
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Rather, the U.S. federal income tax liability (if any) of persons subject to backup withholding may be reduced by the amount of tax withheld. If backup withholding results in an overpayment of taxes, a refund may be obtained, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
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UNDERWRITING
BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as representatives of each of the underwriters named below. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in an underwriting agreement among us and the underwriters, we have agreed to sell to the underwriters, and each of the underwriters has agreed, severally and not jointly, to purchase from us, the number of units set forth opposite its name below.
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Underwriter
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Number of Units
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BofA Securities, Inc.
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| | | | | | |
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J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
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| Total | | | | | 20,000,000 | | |
Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the underwriting agreement, the underwriters have agreed, severally and not jointly, to purchase all of the units sold under the underwriting agreement if any of these units are purchased. If an underwriter defaults, the underwriting agreement provides that the purchase commitments of the non-defaulting underwriters may be increased or the underwriting agreement may be terminated.
We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriters may be required to make in respect of those liabilities.
The underwriters are offering the units, subject to prior sale, when, as and if issued to and accepted by them, subject to approval of legal matters by their counsel, including the validity of the units, and other conditions contained in the underwriting agreement, such as the receipt by the underwriters of officer’s certificates and legal opinions. The underwriters reserve the right to withdraw, cancel or modify offers to the public and to reject orders in whole or in part.
Commissions and Discounts
The representatives have advised us that the underwriters propose initially to offer the units to the public at the public offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus and to dealers at that price less a concession not in excess of $ per share. After the initial offering, the public offering price, concession or any other term of the offering may be changed.
The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we will pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. The information assumes either no exercise or full exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional units.
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Per Unit(1)
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Total(1)
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Without
Over- allotment |
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With
Over- allotment |
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Without
Over- allotment |
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With
Over- allotment |
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Underwriting Discounts and Commissions paid by us
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| | | $ | 0.55 | | | | | $ | 0.55 | | | | | $ | 11,000,000 | | | | | $ | 12,650,000 | | |
(1)
Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate, payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus. Up to $0.105 per unit, or up to $2,100,000 (or $2,415,000) if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), of such amount may instead be paid, at our sole discretion, to third parties not participating in this offering (but are FINRA members) that assist us in consummating our initial business combination.
The expenses of the offering, not including the underwriting discounts and commissions, are estimated at $600,000 and are payable by us. We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for all expenses and fees of its legal counsel related to the review by FINRA, which will not exceed $25,000.
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Option to Purchase Additional Shares
We have granted an option to the underwriters, exercisable for 45 days after the date of this prospectus, to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The underwriters may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, made in connection with this offering. If the underwriters exercise this option, each will be obligated, subject to conditions contained in the underwriting agreement, to purchase a number of additional units proportionate to that underwriter’s initial amount reflected in the above table.
No Sales of Similar Securities
We, our sponsor and our directors and officers have agreed that we will not offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, without the prior written consent of BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, any units, warrants, ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, ordinary shares; provided, however, that we may (1) issue and sell the private placement warrants; (2) issue and sell the additional units to cover our underwriters’ over-allotment option (if any); (3) register with the SEC pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the resale of the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and the founder shares; and (4) issue securities in connection with our initial business combination. However, the foregoing shall not apply to the forfeiture of any founder shares pursuant to their terms or any transfer of founder shares to any current or future independent director of the company (as long as such current or future independent director is subject to the terms of the letter agreement filed herewith at the time of such transfer and as long as, to the extent any Section 16 reporting obligation is triggered as a result of such transfer, any related Section 16 filing includes a practical explanation as to the nature of the transfer). BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC in their discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.
Our initial shareholders, anchor investors, directors and officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, amalgamation, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders and anchor investors with respect to any founder shares.
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).
Nasdaq Global Market Listing
We expect our units to be listed on Nasdaq, under the symbol “WWAC.U” and, once the Class A ordinary shares and warrants begin separate trading, to have our Class A ordinary shares and warrants listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “WWAC” and “WWAC.WS,” respectively. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq.
Before this offering, there has been no public market for our units. The initial public offering price will be determined through negotiations between us and the representatives. In addition to prevailing market conditions, the factors to be considered in determining the initial public offering price are:
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•
the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies,
•
prior offerings of those companies,
•
our management,
•
currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company.
An active trading market for our securities may not develop. It is also possible that after the offering our securities will not trade in the public market at or above the initial public offering price.
The underwriters do not expect to sell more than 5% of the units in the aggregate to accounts over which they exercise discretionary authority.
If we do not complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame, the trustee and the underwriters have agreed that: (1) they will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account; and (2) the deferred underwriters’ discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, together with any accrued interest thereon (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) to the public shareholders.
Price Stabilization, Short Positions and Penalty Bids
Until the distribution of the units is completed, SEC rules may limit underwriters and selling group members from bidding for and purchasing our securities. However, the representatives may engage in transactions that stabilize the price of the units, such as bids or purchases to peg, fix or maintain that price.
In connection with the offering, the underwriters may purchase and sell our units in the open market. These transactions may include short sales, purchases on the open market to cover positions created by short sales and stabilizing transactions. Short sales involve the sale by the underwriters of a greater number of units than they are required to purchase in the offering. “Covered” short sales are sales made in an amount not greater than the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units described above. The underwriters may close out any covered short position by either exercising their option to purchase additional units or purchasing units in the open market. In determining the source of units to close out the covered short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the option granted to them. “Naked” short sales are sales in excess of such option. The underwriters must close out any naked short position by purchasing units in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering. Stabilizing transactions consist of various bids for or purchases of units made by the underwriters in the open market prior to the completion of the offering.
The underwriters may also impose a penalty bid. This occurs when a particular underwriter repays to the underwriters a portion of the underwriting discount received by it because the representatives have repurchased units sold by or for the account of such underwriter in stabilizing or short covering transactions.
Similar to other purchase transactions, the underwriters’ purchases to cover the syndicate short sales may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of the units or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. As a result, the price of the units may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. The underwriters may conduct these transactions on the Nasdaq Global Market, in the over-the-counter market or otherwise.
Neither we nor any of the underwriters make any representation or prediction as to the direction or magnitude of any effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of the units. In addition, neither we nor any of the underwriters make any representation that the representatives will engage in these transactions or that these transactions, once commenced, will not be discontinued without notice.
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Electronic Distribution
In connection with the offering, certain of the underwriters or securities dealers may distribute prospectuses by electronic means, such as e-mail.
Other Relationships
We are not under any contractual obligation to engage any of the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, any of the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future. If any of the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay such underwriter fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with any of the underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to any of the underwriters prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with this offering, and we may pay the underwriters of this offering or any entity with which they are affiliated, a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination.
Some of the underwriters and their affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates. They have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions.
In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriters and their affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.
European Economic Area
This prospectus is not a prospectus for the purposes of the Prospectus Regulation (as defined below). This prospectus and any offer if made subsequently is directed only at persons in Member States of the European Economic Area (each, a “Member State”) who are “qualified investors” within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation. This prospectus has been prepared on the basis that any offer of units in any Member State of the European Economic Area will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Regulation from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of the units. Accordingly any person making or intending to make an offer in that Member State of the units which are the subject of the offering contemplated in this prospectus may only do so in circumstances in which no obligation arises for the company or the underwriters to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation, in each case, in relation to such offer. Neither the company nor the underwriters have authorized, nor do they authorize, the making of any offer of units in circumstances in which an obligation arises for the company or the underwriters to publish a prospectus for such offer.
In relation to each Member State, no offer of the units which are the subject of the offering contemplated by this prospectus may be made to the public in that Member State other than:
(a)
to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under the Prospectus Regulation;
(b)
to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives of the underwriters for any such offer; or
(c)
in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation,
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provided that no such offer of units shall require us or any underwriter to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any units in any Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any units, and the expression “Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the United Kingdom
This prospectus is not a prospectus for the purposes of the UK Prospectus Regulation (as defined below). This prospectus has been prepared on the basis that any offer if made subsequently is directed only at persons in the United Kingdom (“UK”), who are “qualified investors” within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the UK Prospectus Regulation. This prospectus has been prepared on the basis that any offer of units in the UK will be made pursuant to an exemption under the UK Prospectus Regulation from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of the units. Accordingly any person making or intending to make an offer in the UK of the units which are the subject of the offering contemplated in this prospectus may only do so in circumstances in which no obligation arises for the company or the underwriters to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the UK Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the UK Prospectus Regulation, in each case, in relation to such offer. Neither the company nor the underwriters have authorized, nor do they authorize, the making of any offer of units in circumstances in which an obligation arises for the company or the underwriters to publish or supplement a prospectus for such offer.
In relation to the UK, no offer of the units which are the subject of the offering contemplated by this prospectus to the public may be made in the UK other than:
(a)
to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation;
(b)
to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation in the UK subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives of the underwriters for any such offer; or
(c)
in any other circumstances falling within Section 86 of the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended (the “FSMA”),
provided that no such offer of units shall require us or any underwriter to publish a prospectus pursuant to Section 85 of the FSMA or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the UK Prospectus Regulation.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression “an offer to the public” in relation to any units in the UK means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any units, and the expression “UK Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020.
This prospectus may not be distributed or circulated to any person in the United Kingdom other than to (i) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the “Order”); and (ii) high net worth entities falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). In the UK, this prospectus is directed only at relevant persons. Other persons in the UK should not act on this prospectus or any of its contents. In the UK, this prospectus is being supplied on a confidential basis only to relevant persons for their information and may not be reproduced, redistributed or passed on to any other person or published, in whole or in part, for any other purpose.
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Any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the FSMA) in connection with the issue or sale of the units may only be communicated or caused to be communicated in circumstances in which Section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply to the company.
All applicable provisions of the FSMA must be complied with in respect to anything done by any person in relation to the units in, from or otherwise involving the UK.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Australia
No placement document, prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document has been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”), in relation to the offering. This prospectus does not constitute a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act 2001 (the “Corporations Act”), and does not purport to include the information required for a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act.
Any offer in Australia of the units may only be made to persons (the “Exempt Investors”) who are “sophisticated investors” (within the meaning of section 708(8) of the Corporations Act), “professional investors” (within the meaning of section 708(11) of the Corporations Act) or otherwise pursuant to one or more exemptions contained in section 708 of the Corporations Act so that it is lawful to offer the units without disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act.
The units applied for by Exempt Investors in Australia must not be offered for sale in Australia in the period of 12 months after the date of allotment under the offering, except in circumstances where disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act would not be required pursuant to an exemption under section 708 of the Corporations Act or otherwise or where the offer is pursuant to a disclosure document which complies with Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act. Any person acquiring units must observe such Australian on-sale restrictions.
This prospectus contains general information only and does not take account of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. It does not contain any securities recommendations or financial product advice. Before making an investment decision, investors need to consider whether the information in this prospectus is appropriate to their needs, objectives and circumstances, and, if necessary, seek expert advice on those matters.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Japan
The units have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948, as amended) and, accordingly, will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan, or for the account or benefit of any Japanese Person or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the account or benefit of, any Japanese Person, except in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines promulgated by relevant Japanese governmental or regulatory authorities in effect at the relevant time. For the purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese Person” shall mean any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Hong Kong
The underwriters and each of their affiliates have not (1) offered or sold, and will not offer or sell, in Hong Kong, by means of any document, our units other than (A) to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap.571) of Hong Kong and any rules made under that Ordinance or (B) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” as defined in the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 32) of Hong Kong or which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of that Ordinance or (2) issued or had in its possession for the purposes of issue, and will not issue or have in its possession for the purposes of issue, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere any advertisement, invitation or document relating to our units which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to our securities which are or are
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intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance and any rules made under that Ordinance. The contents of this document have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Hong Kong. You are advised to exercise caution in relation to the offer. If you are in any doubt about any of the contents of this document, you should obtain independent professional advice.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Singapore
This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus under the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (“SFA”) by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the offer of the units is made primarily pursuant to the exemption under Section 304 of the SFA. Accordingly, the units may not be offered or sold, or made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, nor may this prospectus or any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase of the units be circulated or distributed, whether directly or indirectly, to any person in Singapore other than: (a) to an institutional investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA) pursuant to Section 304 of the SFA; or (b) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with, the conditions of any other applicable exemption or provision of the SFA.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the Cayman Islands
No offer or invitation, whether directly or indirectly, may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for our units.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Switzerland
This prospectus is not intended to constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase or invest in the units in Switzerland. The units offered hereby may not be publicly offered, directly or indirectly, in Switzerland within the meaning of the Swiss Financial Services Act (“FinSA”) and no application has or will be made to admit the units to trading on any trading venue (exchange or multilateral trading facility) in Switzerland. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the units constitutes a prospectus pursuant to the FinSA, and neither this prospectus nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the units may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the Dubai International Financial Centre
This prospectus relates to an exempt offer in accordance with the Offered Securities Rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”). This prospectus is intended for distribution only to persons of a type specified in the Offered Securities Rules of the DFSA. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person. The DFSA has no responsibility for reviewing or verifying any documents in connection with exempt offers. The DFSA has not approved this prospectus nor taken steps to verify the information set forth herein and has no responsibility for this prospectus. The units to which this prospectus relates may be illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective purchasers of the units offered should conduct their own due diligence on the units. If you do not understand the contents of this prospectus you should consult an authorized financial advisor.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Canada
The units may be sold only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of the units must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.
Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser
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within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.
Pursuant to section 3A.3 (or, in the case of securities issued or guaranteed by the government of a non-Canadian jurisdiction, section 3A.4) of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.
LEGAL MATTERS
Shearman & Sterling LLP, New York, New York, is acting as counsel in connection with the registration of our securities under the Securities Act, and as such, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to units and warrants. Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to the ordinary shares and matters of Cayman Islands law. In connection with this offering, Sidley Austin LLP, New York, New York, is acting as counsel to the underwriters.
EXPERTS
The financial statements of Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. as of March 5, 2021 and for the period from March 5, 2021 (inception) through March 5, 2021 appearing in this prospectus have been audited by Marcum LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon (which contains an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about the ability of Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. to continue as a going concern as described in Note 1 to the financial statements), appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance on such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in auditing and accounting.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.
Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
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WORLDWIDE WEBB ACQUISITION CORP.
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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Page
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| | | | | F-2 | | | |
| | | | | F-3 | | | |
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| | | | | F-5 | | | |
| | | | | F-6 | | | |
| | | | | F-7 | | | |
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholder and Board of Directors of
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp.
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of March 5, 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholder’s equity and cash flows for the period from March 5, 2021 (inception) through March 5, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of March 5, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for period from March 5, 2021 (inception) through March 5, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph—Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1, the Company’s business plan is dependent upon its completion of the proposed initial public offering described in Note 3 to the financial statements. The Company has a working capital deficit as of March 5, 2021 and lacks the financial resources it needs to sustain operations for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans with regard to these matters are also described in Notes 1 and 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum llp
Marcum llp
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.
Los Angeles, CA
April 2, 2021, except for the Warrant Amendments in Note 5, Warrant Liabilities in Note 6, and Subsequent Event in Note 8, as to which the date is September 24, 2021
April 2, 2021, except for the Warrant Amendments in Note 5, Warrant Liabilities in Note 6, and Subsequent Event in Note 8, as to which the date is September 24, 2021
F-2
WORLDWIDE WEBB ACQUISITION CORP.
Balance Sheets
| | | |
As of
June 30, 2021 |
| |
As of
March 5, 2021 |
| ||||||
| | | |
(Unaudited)
|
| | | | | | | |||
| ASSETS | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Cash
|
| | | $ | 44,515 | | | | | $ | — | | |
|
Prepaid legal expense
|
| | | | — | | | | | | 12,462 | | |
|
Deferred offering costs associated with proposed public offering
|
| | | | 592,177 | | | | | | 51,857 | | |
|
Total assets
|
| | | $ | 636,692 | | | | | $ | 64,319 | | |
| LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDER’S EQUITY | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Current liabilities: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Accounts payable
|
| | | $ | 14,579 | | | | | $ | — | | |
|
Accrued offering and formation costs
|
| | | | 453,609 | | | | | | 51,857 | | |
|
Promissory note payable – related party
|
| | | | 174,605 | | | | | | — | | |
|
Total current liabilities
|
| | | | 642,793 | | | | | | 51,857 | | |
| Commitments and Contingencies (Note 6) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Shareholder’s equity (deficit) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
|
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
|
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000
issued and outstanding at June 30, 2021 and March 05, 2021, respectively(1)(2) |
| | | | 575 | | | | | | 575 | | |
|
Additional paid-in capital
|
| | | | 24,425 | | | | | | 24,425 | | |
|
Accumulated deficit
|
| | | | (31,101) | | | | | | (12,538) | | |
|
Total Shareholder’s equity (deficit)
|
| | | | (6,101) | | | | | | 12,462 | | |
|
Total Liabilities and Shareholder’s equity (deficit)
|
| | | $ | 636,692 | | | | | $ | 64,319 | | |
(1)
This number includes an aggregate of up to 750,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 4).
(2)
On September 17, 2021, our sponsor effected a surrender of 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the company for no consideration, resulting in a decrease in the number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding from 8,625,000 to 5,750,000. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the reduction of founder shares (see Note 4).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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WORLDWIDE WEBB ACQUISITION CORP.
StatementS of Operations
| | | |
For the period from
March 5, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 |
| |
For the period from
March 5, 2021 (inception) through March 05, 2021 |
| ||||||
| | | |
(Unaudited)
|
| | | | | | | |||
|
Formation costs
|
| | | $ | 31,101 | | | | | $ | 12,538 | | |
|
Net loss
|
| | | | (31,101) | | | | | | (12,538) | | |
|
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1)(2)
|
| | | | 5,000,000 | | | | | | 5,000,000 | | |
|
Basic and diluted net loss per share
|
| | | $ | (0.01) | | | | | $ | (0.00) | | |
(1)
This number excludes an aggregate of up to 750,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 4).
(2)
On September 17, 2021, our sponsor effected a surrender of 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the company for no consideration, resulting in a decrease in the number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding from 8,625,000 to 5,750,000. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the reduction of founder shares (see Note 4).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
WORLDWIDE WEBB ACQUISITION CORP.
Statements of Changes in Shareholder’s Equity (Deficit)
| | | |
Ordinary Shares
|
| |
Additional
Paid-In Capital |
| |
Accumulated
Deficit |
| |
Total
Shareholder’s (Deficit) Equity |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | | |
Class A
|
| |
Class B
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | | |
Shares
|
| |
Amount
|
| |
Shares
|
| |
Amount
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Balance as of March 05, 2021 (inception)
|
| | | | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | | | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | | $ | — | | |
|
Issuance of ordinary shares to Sponsor(1)(2)
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | 5,750,000 | | | | | | 575 | | | | | | 24,425 | | | | | | — | | | | | | 25,000 | | |
|
Net loss
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | (12,538) | | | | | | (12,538) | | |
|
Balance as of March 5, 2021
|
| | | | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | | | 5,750,000 | | | | | $ | 575 | | | | | $ | 24,425 | | | | | $ | (12,538) | | | | | $ | 12,462 | | |
|
Net loss
|
| | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | (18,563) | | | | | | (18,563) | | |
|
Balance as of June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
|
| | | | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | | | 5,750,000 | | | | | $ | 575 | | | | | $ | 24,425 | | | | | $ | (31,101) | | | | | $ | (6,101) | | |
(1)
This number includes an aggregate of up to 750,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 4).
(2)
On September 17, 2021, our sponsor effected a surrender of 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the company for no consideration, resulting in a decrease in the number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding from 8,625,000 to 5,750,000. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the reduction of founder shares (see Note 4).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
WORLDWIDE WEBB ACQUISITION CORP.
Statements of Cash Flows
| | | |
For the period from
March 5, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 |
| |
For the period from
March 5, 2021 (inception) through March 05, 2021 |
| ||||||
| | | |
(Unaudited)
|
| | | | | | | |||
| Cash Flows from Operating Activities | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Net Loss
|
| | | $ | (31,101) | | | | | $ | (12,538) | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Formation costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of ordinary shares
|
| | | | — | | | | | | 12,538 | | |
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | | | | ||||||||||
|
Accounts payable
|
| | | | 14,579 | | | | | | — | | |
|
Accrued offering and formation costs
|
| | | | 1,037 | | | | | | — | | |
|
Net cash used in operating activities
|
| | | | (15,485) | | | | | | — | | |
| Financing Activities | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Proceeds from promissory note payable – related party
|
| | | | 65,000 | | | | | | — | | |
|
Repayment of promissory note payable – related party
|
| | | | (5,000) | | | | | | — | | |
|
Net Cash provided by financing activities
|
| | | | 60,000 | | | | | | — | | |
|
Net increase in cash
|
| | | | 44,515 | | | | | | — | | |
|
Cash – beginning of period
|
| | |
|
—
|
| | | |
|
—
|
| |
|
Cash – end of period
|
| | | $ | 44,515 | | | | | $ | — | | |
| Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Deferred offering costs included in accounts payable
|
| | | $ | 14,579 | | | | | $ | — | | |
|
Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering and formation costs
|
| | | $ | 452,572 | | | | | $ | 51,857 | | |
|
Deferred offering costs and formation costs paid through promissory note – related party
|
| | | $ | 114,605 | | | | | $ | — | | |
|
Issuance of Founder Shares in exchange for payment of formation costs
|
| | | $ | 25,000 | | | | | $ | 25,000 | | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
WORLDWIDE WEBB ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1—Description of Organization, Business Operations, Going Concern and Basis of Presentation
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Cayman Islands on March 5, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). 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 June 30, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from March 5, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021, relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering (as defined below). The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Company’s sponsor is Worldwide Webb Acquisition Sponsor, LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability corporation (the “Sponsor”). The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a proposed public offering (the “Proposed Public Offering”) of 20,000,000 units of the Company (each, a “Unit” and collectively, the “Units”) at $10.00 per Unit (or 23,000,000 Units if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 8,000,000 warrants of the Company (or 8,900,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to the Sponsor that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering.
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in Trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, the Company only intends to complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management has agreed that an amount equal to at least $10.10 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering, including the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants, will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”) located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
The Company will provide the holders (the “Public Shareholders”) of the Company’s issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, sold in the Proposed Public Offering (the “Public Shares”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company,
F-7
solely in its discretion. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then held in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.10 per Public Share). The per-share amount to be distributed to Public Shareholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 5). All of the Public Shares contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such Public Shares in connection with our liquidation, if there is a shareholder vote or tender offer in connection with our initial business combination and in connection with certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandom and articles of association. In accordance with SEC and its guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of a company require ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Given that the Public Shares will be issued with other freestanding instruments (i.e., public warrants), the initial carrying value of Class A ordinary shares classified as temporary equity will be the allocated proceeds determined in accordance with ASC 470-20. The Class A ordinary shares are subject to ASC 480-10-S99. If it is probable that the equity instrument will become redeemable, we have the option to either (i) accrete changes in the redemption value over the period from the date of issuance (or from the date that it becomes probable that the instrument will become redeemable, if later) to the earliest redemption date of the instrument or (ii) recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust the carrying amount of the instrument to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. We have elected to recognize the changes immediately. The accretion or remeasurement will be treated as a deemed dividend (i.e., a reduction to retained earnings, or in absence of retained earnings, additional paid-in capital). While redemptions cannot cause the Company’s net tangible assets to fall below $5,000,001, the Public Shares are redeemable and will be classified as such on the balance sheet until such date that a redemption event takes place. If a shareholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (the “Memorandum and Articles of Association”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain shareholder approval for business or legal reasons, the Company will offer to redeem the Public Shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the initial shareholders (as defined below) have agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined below in Note 4) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Proposed Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination. In addition, the initial shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and Public Shares in connection with the completion of a Business Combination.
The Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to any more than an aggregate of 15% of the Public Shares held by one shareholder or a group, without the prior consent of the Company. The holders of the Founder Shares (the “initial shareholders”) have agreed not to propose an amendment to the Memorandum and Articles of Association (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with a Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period (as defined below) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity, unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (the “Combination Period”) and the Company’s shareholders have not amended the Memorandum and Articles of Association to extend such Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust
F-8
Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
The initial shareholders have 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 shareholders acquire Public Shares in or after the Proposed Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to the deferred underwriting commission (see Note 5) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within in the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only $10.10. In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party (except for the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement (a “Target”), reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (i) $10.10 per Public Share or (ii) the lesser amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or Target that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account nor will it apply to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Proposed Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Going Concern Consideration
As of June 30, 2021, the Company had $44,515 in cash and working capital deficiency of $598,278. Further, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through the Proposed Public Offering. The Company cannot assure that its plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial Business Combination will be successful. In addition, management is currently evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and its effect on the Company’s financial position, results its operations and/or search for a target company. See further discussion of the Company’s assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic below.
These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for the twelve months following the issuance of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from its inability to consummate the Proposed Public Offering or its inability to continue as a going concern.
COVID-19
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
F-9
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. Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
The accompanying unaudited financial statements as of June 30, 2021 and for the period from March 5, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP for interim financial information and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal accruals) considered for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the period from March 5, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the period ending December 31, 2021, or any future period.
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 of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet primarily due to its short-term nature.
Fair Value Measurements
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes
F-10
a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
Level 1—Valuations based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. Valuation adjustments and block discounts are not being applied. Since valuations are based on quoted prices that are readily and regularly available in an active market, valuation of these securities does not entail a significant degree of judgment.
Level 2—Valuations based on (i) quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, (ii) quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar assets, (iii) inputs other than quoted prices for the assets of liabilities, or (iv) inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by market through correlation or other means.
Level 3—Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement.
Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”. For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value on the grant date and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statements of operations. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is evaluated at the end of each reporting period. Derivative liabilities are classified in the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Deferred Offering Costs Associated with the Proposed Public Offering
Deferred offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering and that will be charged to shareholder’s equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. Should the Proposed Public Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses to be incurred, will be charged to operations.
Net Loss Per Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 750,000 shares of Class B ordinary shares that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters (see Note 4). At June 30, 2021 and March 5, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into shares of ordinary shares and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share for the period presented.
Income Taxes
The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax
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consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. Deferred tax assets were deemed immaterial as of June 30, 2021 and March 5, 2021.
FASB ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of June 30, 2021 and March 5, 2021. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of June 30, 2021 and March 5, 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. There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements. The Company is subject to income tax examination by major taxing authorities since inception.
The provision for income taxes was deemed to be immaterial for the period from March 5, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
The Company’s management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
In August the FASB issued a new standard (ASU 2020-06) to reduce the complexity of accounting for convertible debt and other equity-linked instruments. For certain convertible debt instruments with a cash conversion feature, the changes are a trade-off between simplifications in the accounting model (no separation of an “equity” component to impute a market interest rate, and simpler analysis of embedded equity features) and a potentially adverse impact to diluted EPS by requiring the use of the if-converted method. The new standard will also impact other financial instruments commonly issued by both public and private companies. For example, the separation model for beneficial conversion features is eliminated simplifying the analysis for issuers of convertible debt and convertible preferred stock. Also, certain specific requirements to achieve equity classification and/ or qualify for the derivative scope exception for contracts indexed to an entity’s own equity are removed, enabling more freestanding instruments and embedded features to avoid mark-to-market accounting. The new standard is effective for companies that are SEC filers (except for Smaller Reporting Companies) for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021 and interim periods within that year, and two years later for other companies. Companies can early adopt the standard at the start of a fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2020. The standard can either be adopted on a modified retrospective or a full retrospective basis. The Company is currently reviewing the newly issued standard and does not believe it will materially impact the Company.
Note 3—Proposed Public Offering
Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale 20,000,000 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A ordinary shares, and one-half of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A ordinary shares at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 6).
The Company will grant the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Proposed Public Offering to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Proposed Public Offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.
Upon consummation of the Proposed Public Offering, the Sponsor has agreed to sell certain founder shares to certain investors (the “Anchor Investors”) in connection with the Anchor Investors’
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participation in the Proposed Public Offering. The number of underlying founder shares that the Anchor Investors are entitled to purchase from the Sponsor will depend on the number of units each Anchor Investor purchases in the Proposed Public Offering.
Certain qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors (none of which are members affiliated with any member of our management team, our sponsor, our board of directors or, to our knowledge, any other anchor investor and will not be so affiliated prior to their receipt of founder shares in connection with their investments in us, if any), which we refer to as the anchor investors, (collectively, the “Anchor Investors”) have each expressed an interest to purchase units in the Proposed Public Offering at a level of up to and in no event exceeding 9.9% of the units subject to the Proposed Public Offering. If each of the Anchor Investors purchase the full 9.9% (or 7.5%) of the units it has expressed an interest in purchasing, each would own approximately 8.42% (or 6.375%) of the Company’s outstanding shares following the Proposed Public Offering, with the Anchor Investors collectively owning approximately 84.4% of the Company’s outstanding shares following the Proposed Public Offering, and the Sponsor would own approximately 15.0% of the outstanding shares following the Proposed Public Offering.
There can be no assurance that the Anchor Investors will acquire any public units in the Proposed Public Offering or what amount of equity the Anchor Investors will retain, if any, upon the consummation of the initial Business Combination. In the event that the Anchor Investors purchase such units (either in the Proposed Public Offering or after) and vote the shares included therein in favor of the initial Business Combination, no votes from other public shareholders would be required to approve the initial Business Combination. The Anchor Investors may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial Business Combination than other public shareholders due to their ownership interests in the Company.
Note 4—Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
In March 2021, our sponsor subscribed for an aggregate of 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.001 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 (“founder shares”). On September 17, 2021, our sponsor effected a surrender of 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the company for no consideration, resulting in a decrease in the number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding from 8,625,000 to 5,750,000, such that the total number of founder shares would represent 20% of the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of this offering (of which 750,000 Class B ordinary shares are subject to forfeiture if the underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option). Prior to the initial investment in the company of $ 25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued.
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on the date the Units are first listed on Nasdaq, the Company has agreed to pay the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of the Initial Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.
Promissory Note—Related Party
On March 5, 2021, the Sponsor issued an unsecured promissory note to the Company (the “Promissory Note”), pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) March 15, 2022 or (ii) the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering. As of June 30, 2021 and March 5, 2021, the Company has borrowed $174,605 and $0, respectively, under the promissory note with the Sponsor.
Private Placement Warrants
The Sponsor will agree to purchase an aggregate of 8,000,000 Private Placement Warrants (or 8,900,000 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a
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price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, or approximately $8,000,000 in the aggregate (or $8,900,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole share of Class A ordinary shares at a price of $11.50 per ordinary share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants to the Sponsor will be added to the proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering to be held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable (except as described below in Note 6 under “Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00”) so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.
The purchasers of the Private Placement Warrants will agree, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants (except to permitted transferees) until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
Related Party Loans
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $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, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Note 5—Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans), will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering. These holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. However, the registration rights agreement will provide that we will not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Warrant amendments
The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any shareholder or warrant 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, the Company 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 the Company’s 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
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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 Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
Underwriting Agreement
The underwriters will be entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $4,000,000 in the aggregate (or $4,600,000 in the aggregate if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), payable upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. An additional fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $7,000,000 in the aggregate (or approximately $8,050,000 in the aggregate if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Note 6—Warrant Liabilities
The Company will account for the 18,000,000 warrants to be issued in connection with the Proposed Public Offering (the 10,000,000 Public Warrants and the 8,000,000 Private Placement Warrants assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Company’s statement of operations.
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 Proposed Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or holders are permitted to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under certain circumstances as a result of (i) the Company’s failure to have an effective registration statement by the 60th business day after the closing of the initial Business Combination or (ii) a notice of redemption described under “Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00”). The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of its initial Business Combination, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of the Company’s initial Business Combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, the Company will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and the Company will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if the Company’s Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, it will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event the Company does not so elect, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
The warrants have an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments, and will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. In
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addition, if (x) the Company issues additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A ordinary shares (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of the initial Business Combination on the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination (net of redemptions) and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates the initial Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described under “Redemption of warrants for Class A ordinary shares” and “Redemption of warrants for cash” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants, except that, so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by the Company, (ii) they (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the Sponsor until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination, (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) are subject to registration rights.
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00: Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the Private Placement Warrants):
•
in whole and not in part;
•
at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
•
upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and
•
if, and only if the last reported sale price of Class A ordinary shares 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 “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted).
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. Any such exercise would not be on a cashless basis and would require the exercising warrant holder to pay the exercise price for each warrant being exercised.
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00: Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
•
in whole and not in part;
•
at a price of $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 on a cashless basis after receiving notice of redemption but prior to redemption and receive that number of Class A ordinary shares to be determined by reference to an agreed table based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of Class A ordinary shares;
•
if, and only if the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted); and
•
if, and only if the Reference Value 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. The “fair market value” of Class A ordinary shares shall mean the
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volume-weighted average price of Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 shares of our Class A ordinary shares 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 7—Shareholder’s Equity
Class A Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of June 30, 2021 and March 5, 2021, there were no Class A ordinary shares issued or outstanding.
Class B Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. On June 30, 2021 and March 5, 2021, 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares were issued and outstanding.
Holders of the Class A ordinary shares and holders of the Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the Company’s shareholders, except as required by law or stock exchange rule; provided that only holders of the Class B ordinary shares shall have the right to vote on the election of the Company’s directors prior to the initial Business Combination.
The Class B founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities (as described herein), are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in this offering and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which the Class B ordinary shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the sum of all Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon the completion of this offering, plus all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of the Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of the board of directors for any reason in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. On any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, holders of the Class B ordinary shares and holders of the Class A ordinary shares will vote together as a single class, except as required by law and subject to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Preference shares—The Company is authorized to issue 5,000,000 shares of preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share, with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of June 30, 2021 and March 5, 2021, there were no shares of preference shares issued or outstanding.
Note 8—Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to September 24, 2021 the date that the financial statements were available to be issued. Based on this review, except as noted below, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements, other than described below.
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On September 17, 2021, our sponsor effected a surrender of 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the company for no consideration, resulting in a decrease in the number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding from 8,625,000 to 5,750,000, such that the total number of founder shares would represent 20% of the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of this offering (of which 750,000 Class B ordinary shares are subject to forfeiture if the underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option).
The Company also intends to enter into anchor investor agreements with multiple Anchor Investors. The Anchor Investors have expressed to us an interest in purchasing an aggregate of $198.6 million of units in this offering at the offering price, and we have agreed to direct the underwriters to offer to each Anchor Investor up to such number of units and no more than 9.9% of the units in this offering per Anchor Investor. If the Anchor Investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, approximately 99.3% of the units sold in this offering will be purchased by the Anchor Investors, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option.
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Through and including , 2021, (the 25th day after the date of this prospectus), all dealers effecting transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This delivery requirement is in addition to a dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to an unsold allotment or subscription.
20,000,000 Units
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp.
P R O S P E C T U S
BofA Securities
J.P. Morgan
, 2021
PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.
The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:
| |
Legal fees and expenses
|
| | | $ | 300,000 | | |
| |
Accounting fees and expenses
|
| | | | 40,000 | | |
| |
SEC expenses
|
| | | | 25,093 | | |
| |
FINRA expenses
|
| | | | 35,000 | | |
| |
Road show
|
| | | | 10,000 | | |
| |
Nasdaq listing and filing fees
|
| | | | 85,000 | | |
| |
Printing and engraving expenses
|
| | | | 35,000 | | |
| |
Miscellaneous expenses
|
| | | | 69,907 | | |
| |
Total offering expenses
|
| | | $ | 600,000 | | |
(1)
This amount represents the approximate amount of annualized director and officer liability insurance premiums the registrant anticipates paying following the completion of its initial public offering and until it completes a business combination.
Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of directors and officers, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide for indemnification of our directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect.
We will enter into agreements with our directors and officers to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. We may purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our directors and officers against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our directors and officers.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced directors and officers.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.
In March 2021, our sponsor subscribed for an aggregate of 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On September 17, 2021, our sponsor effected a surrender of 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the company for no consideration, resulting in a decrease in the number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding from 8,625,000 to 5,750,000, such that the total number of founder shares would represent 20% of the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of this offering (of which 750,000 Class B ordinary shares are subject to forfeiture if the
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underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option). Such securities were issued in connection with our incorporation pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Our sponsor is an accredited investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D.
In addition, our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase from us an aggregate of 8,000,000 (or 8,900,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants at $1.00 per warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $8,000,000 or $8,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). This purchase will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the completion of our initial public offering. This issuance will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.
Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.
(a) Exhibits. The following exhibits are being filed herewith:
|
Exhibit
|
| |
Description
|
|
| 1.1** | | | | |
| 3.1* | | | | |
| 3.2* | | | | |
| 4.1* | | | | |
| 4.2* | | | | |
| 4.3* | | | | |
| 4.4* | | | | |
| 5.1* | | | | |
| 5.2* | | | | |
| 10.1* | | | | |
| 10.2* | | | | |
| 10.3* | | | | |
| 10.4* | | | | |
| 10.5* | | | | |
| 10.6* | | | | |
| 10.7* | | | | |
| 10.8* | | | | |
| 10.9* | | | | |
| 10.10* | | | | |
| 14* | | | | |
| 23.1** | | | | |
| 23.2* | | | | |
| 23.3* | | | |
II-2
|
Exhibit
|
| |
Description
|
|
| 24* | | | | |
| 99.1* | | | | |
| 99.2* | | | | |
| 99.3* | | | | |
| 99.4* | | | |
* Previously filed
** Filed herewith
(b) Financial Statements. See page F-1 for an index to the financial statements and schedules included in the registration statement.
Item 17. Undertakings.
(a) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.
(b) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
(c) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:
(1) For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.
(2) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(3) For the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser, if the registrant is subject to Rule 430C, each prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) as part of a registration statement relating to an offering, other than registration statements relying on Rule 430B or other than prospectuses filed in reliance on Rule 430A, shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the date it is first used after effectiveness. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such first use, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such date of first use.
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(4) For the purpose of determining liability of a registrant under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of an undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:
(i) Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;
(ii) Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by an undersigned registrant;
(iii) The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and
(iv) Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Orem, State of Utah, on the 29th day of September, 2021.
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp.
By:
/s/ Daniel S. Webb
Name:
Daniel S. Webb
Title:
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
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/s/ Daniel S. Webb
Daniel S. Webb
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Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (Principal
Executive Officer, Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
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September 29, 2021
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*
Terry V. Pearce
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Executive Vice Chairman and
Director |
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September 29, 2021
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*
Tony M. Pearce
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Executive Chairman and Director
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September 29, 2021
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| | *By: | | | /s/ Daniel S. Webb | |
| | | | | Attorney-in-fact | |
Exhibit 1.1
WORLDWIDE WEBB ACQUISITION CORP.
(a Cayman Islands exempted company)
20,000,000 Units
UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT
Dated: [·], 2021
WORLDWIDE WEBB ACQUISITION CORP.
(a Cayman Islands exempted company)
20,000,000 Units
UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT
[·], 2021
BofA Securities, Inc.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
as Representatives of the several Underwriters
c/o BofA Securities, Inc.
One Bryant Park
New York, New York 10036
c/o J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
383 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10179
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Company”), confirms its agreement with BofA Securities, Inc. (“BofA”), J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (“JPM”) and each of the other Underwriters named in Schedule A hereto (collectively, the “Underwriters,” which term shall also include any underwriter substituted as hereinafter provided in Section 10 hereof), for whom BofA and JPM are acting as representative (in such capacity, the “Representatives”), with respect to (i) the sale by the Company and the purchase by the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, of the respective numbers of Units of the Company set forth in Schedule A hereto, totaling 20,000,000 Units in the aggregate, and (ii) the grant by the Company to the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, of the option described in Section 2(b) hereof to purchase all or any part of 3,000,000 additional Units. Each Unit consists of one Class A common stock ordinary share, par value $0.0001, of the Company (collectively, the “Class A Shares”), and one-half of one redeemable warrant of the Company where each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A Share (collectively, the “Warrants”). The aforesaid 20,000,000 Units (the “Initial Securities”) to be purchased by the Underwriters and all or any part of the 3,000,000 additional Units subject to the option described in Section 2(b) hereof (the “Option Securities”) are herein called, collectively, the “Securities.”
The Company understands that the Underwriters propose to make a public offering of the Securities as soon as the Representatives deem advisable after this Agreement has been executed and delivered.
The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-[NUMBER]1), including the related preliminary prospectus or prospectuses, covering the registration of the sale of the Securities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”). Promptly after execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Company will prepare and file a prospectus in accordance with the provisions of Rule 430A (“Rule 430A”) of the rules and regulations of the Commission under the 1933 Act (the “1933 Act Regulations”) and Rule 424(b) (“Rule 424(b)”) of the 1933 Act Regulations. The information included in such prospectus that was omitted from such registration statement at the time it became effective but that is deemed to be part of such registration statement at the time it became effective pursuant to Rule 430A(b) is herein called the “Rule 430A Information.” Such registration statement, including the amendments thereto, the exhibits thereto and any schedules thereto, at the time it became effective, and the Rule 430A Information, is herein called, collectively, the “Registration Statement.” Any registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) of the 1933 Act Regulations is herein called the “Rule 462(b) Registration Statement” and, after such filing, the term “Registration Statement” shall include the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement. Each prospectus used prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, and each prospectus that omitted the Rule 430A Information that was used after such effectiveness and prior to the execution and delivery of this Agreement is herein called a “preliminary prospectus.” The final prospectus, in the form first furnished to the Underwriters for use in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities, is herein called the “Prospectus.” For purposes of this Agreement, all references to the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing shall be deemed to include the copy filed with the Commission pursuant to its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system or any successor system (“EDGAR”).
As used in this Agreement:
“Applicable Time” means [__:00 P./A.M.], New York City time, on [·], 2021 or such other time as agreed by the Company and BofA.
“General Disclosure Package” means the most recent preliminary prospectus that is distributed to investors prior to the Applicable Time and the information included on Schedule B-1 hereto, all considered together.
“Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) of the 1933 Act.
“Written Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the 1933 Act.
On March 5, 2021, the Company was initially formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (a “Business Combination”).
On the date hereof, Worldwide Webb Acquisition Sponsor, LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company (the “Sponsor”), has committed to purchase in a private placement an aggregate of 8,000,000 private placement warrants to purchase Class A Shares) (or up to 8,900,000 private placement warrants if the option to purchase Option Securities as provided in Section 2 herein is exercised in full) (collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), upon the terms specified in the Prospectus and the Company entered into a purchase agreement with the Sponsor (the “Private Placement Agreement”).
1 To be updated once publicly filed
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On March 5, 2021, the Company issued 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 (the “Founder Shares”), to the Sponsor for $25,000 pursuant to a Securities Subscription Agreement, dated as of March 5, 2021 (the “Subscription Agreement”). On September 17, 2021, the Company effected a surrender of Founder Shares, resulting in the Sponsor and other initial shareholders of the Company holding, and there being outstanding, an aggregate of 5,750,000 Founder Shares.
On March 5, 2021, the Company issued a $300,000 promissory note to the Sponsor (the “Promissory Note”).
The Company has entered into separate Investment Agreements, each dated as of [•], 2021 (each, an “Anchor Investment Agreement” and collectively, the “Anchor Investment Agreements”), with the Company, the Sponsor and certain investors (each, an “Anchor Investor” and collectively, the “Anchor Investors”), pursuant to which the Anchor Investors have collectively purchased in the aggregate [•] Founder Shares from the Sponsor at approximately $0.005 per share.
The Company has entered into a Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of the date hereof (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company has granted certain registration and registration rights in respect of securities of the Company held by the Sponsor.
The Company has entered into an Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated as of the date hereof (the “Trust Agreement”), with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee (the “Trustee”), pursuant to which the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and certain proceeds of the offering and sale of the Securities will be deposited and held in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) for the benefit of the Company and the Underwriters.
The Company has entered into a Warrant Agreement, dated as of the date hereof (the “Warrant Agreement”), with respect to the Warrants, the Private Placement Warrants and any warrants issued upon the conversion of working capital loans by the Sponsor, the Company’s officers and directors, or their respective affiliates (the “Working Capital Warrants”) with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent (the “Agent”), pursuant to which the Agent will act as warrant agent in connection with the issuance, registration, transfer, exchange, redemption, and exercise of the Warrants, the Private Placement Warrants and any Working Capital Warrants.
The Company has entered into a letter agreement, dated as of the date hereof (the “Insider Letter”), with the Sponsor and each of the Company’s officers and directors.
The Company has entered into an Administrative Services Agreement, dated as of the date hereof (the “Administrative Services Agreement”), pursuant to which the Sponsor has agreed to provide certain administrative support services to the Company.
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SECTION 1. Representations and Warranties.
(a) Representations and Warranties by the Company. The Company represents and warrants to each Underwriter as of the date hereof, the Applicable Time, the Closing Time (as defined below) and any Date of Delivery (as defined below), and agrees with each Underwriter, as follows:
(i) Registration Statement and Prospectuses. Each of the Registration Statement and any amendment thereto has become effective under the 1933 Act. No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto has been issued under the 1933 Act, no order preventing or suspending the use of any preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus has been issued and no proceedings for any of those purposes have been instituted or are pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, contemplated. The Company has complied with each request (if any) from the Commission for additional information.
Each of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the time it became effective, the Applicable Time, the Closing Time and any Date of Delivery, complied and will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations. Each preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, at the time each was filed with the Commission, and, in each case, at the Applicable Time, the Closing Time and any Date of Delivery, complied and will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations. Each preliminary prospectus delivered to the Underwriters for use in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities and the Prospectus was or will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.
(ii) Accurate Disclosure. Neither the Registration Statement nor any amendment thereto, at its effective time, on the date hereof, at the Closing Time or at any Date of Delivery, contained, contains or will contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. At the Applicable Time and any Date of Delivery, neither (A) the General Disclosure Package nor (B) any individual Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or Marketing Materials (as defined below), if any, when considered together with the General Disclosure Package, included, includes or will include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. Neither the Prospectus nor any amendment or supplement thereto, as of its issue date, at the time of any filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b), at the Closing Time or at any Date of Delivery, included, includes or will include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The representations and warranties in this subsection shall not apply to statements in or omissions from the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto) made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein. For purposes of this Agreement, the only information so furnished shall be the information in the first paragraph under the heading “Underwriting–Commissions and Discounts,” the information in the second, third and fourth paragraphs under the heading “Underwriting–Price Stabilization, Short Positions and Penalty Bids” and the information under the heading “Underwriting–Electronic Distribution”, in each case contained in the Prospectus (collectively, the “Underwriter Information”).
(iii) No Free Writing Prospectuses. The Company has not, directly or indirectly, prepared, used or referred to any “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405 under the 1933 Act).
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(iv) Testing-the-Waters Materials. The Company (A) has not engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communication other than Testing-the-Waters Communications with the consent of the Representatives with entities that the Company reasonably believes are “qualified institutional buyers” within the meaning of Rule 144A under the 1933 Act or institutions that are “accredited investors” within the meaning of Rule 501 under the 1933 Act and (B) has not authorized anyone other than the Representatives to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company reconfirms that the Representatives have been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company has not distributed any Written Testing-the-Waters Communications other than those listed on Schedule B-2 hereto.
(v) Company An Ineligible Issuer. At the time of filing the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto and at the Applicable Time, the Company was and is an “ineligible issuer,” as defined in Rule 405.
(vi) Emerging Growth Company Status. From the time of the initial confidential submission of the Registration Statement with the Commission (or, if earlier, the first date on which the Company engaged directly or through any person authorized to act on its behalf in any Testing-the-Waters Communication), the Company has been and is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the 1933 Act (an “Emerging Growth Company”).
(vii) Independent Accountants. Marcum LLC has audited and certified the financial statements and supporting schedules included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and is an independent public accountant firm as required by the 1933 Act, the 1933 Act Regulations and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
(viii) Financial Statements. The financial statements in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, together with the related schedules and notes, present fairly the financial condition of the Company at the dates indicated and the results of operations, shareholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company for the periods specified; said financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved. The supporting schedules, if any, present fairly in accordance with GAAP the information required to be stated therein. The selected financial data and the summary financial information, if any, included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, if any, present fairly the information shown therein and have been compiled on a basis consistent with that of the audited financial statements included therein. Except as included therein, no historical or pro forma financial statements or supporting schedules are required to be included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus under the 1933 Act or the 1933 Act Regulations.
(ix) No Material Adverse Change. Except as otherwise stated therein, since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, (A) there has been no material adverse change in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business affairs or business prospects of the Company, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business (a “Material Adverse Effect”), (B) there have been no transactions entered into by the Company, other than those in the ordinary course of business, which are material with respect to the Company, and (C) there has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made by the Company on any class of its capital stock.
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(x) Good Standing of the Company. The Company has been duly organized and is validly existing as an exempted company in good standing under the laws of the Cayman Islands and has the company power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and to enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement, the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Subscription Agreement, the Anchor Investment Agreements, the Private Placement Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Insider Letter and the Administrative Services Agreement (collectively, the “Operative Agreements”) and to carry out the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby; and the Company is duly qualified as a foreign entity to transact business and is in good standing in each other jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the failure so to qualify or to be in good standing would not result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(xi) Subsidiaries. The Company has no subsidiaries.
(xii) Filing of a Form 8-A. The Company has filed with the Commission a Form 8-A (file number 001-[●]) providing for the registration of the Units, the Class A Shares and the Warrants under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”), and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder (collectively, the “1934 Act Regulations”), and such registration is in effect.
(xiii) Capitalization. The authorized, issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company are as set forth in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus in the column entitled “Actual” under the caption “Capitalization” (except for subsequent issuances, if any, pursuant to this Agreement or pursuant to the exercise of convertible securities, warrants or options referred to in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus). The outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid and non-assessable. None of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company were issued in violation of the preemptive or other similar rights of any securityholder of the Company. Except as set forth in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there are no outstanding shares or other ownership interests in the Company or warrants, options or other rights to purchase, agreements or other obligations to issue, or rights to convert any obligations into or exchange any securities for, shares or other ownership interests in the Company.
(xiv) Authorization of Agreement. This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company.
(xv) Authorization and Description of Securities, the Class A Shares and the Warrants. The Securities to be purchased by the Underwriters from the Company and the Class A Shares included in the Securities have been duly authorized for issuance and sale to the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement and, when the Securities are issued and delivered by the Company pursuant to this Agreement against payment of the consideration set forth herein, will be duly and validly issued and, in the case of the Securities, fully paid and non-assessable. The certificates for the Securities and the Class A Shares are in due and proper form. The Warrants included in the Securities have been duly authorized for issuance and sale by the Company pursuant to this Agreement and, when the Securities are issued and delivered by the Company pursuant to the Agreement against payment of the consideration set forth herein, will be duly and validly issued and delivered and will constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency or other similar laws relating to or affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect or by equitable principles of general applicability (collectively, the “Enforceability Exceptions”). The issuance of the Securities, the Class A Shares included in the Securities and the Warrants included in the Securities is not subject to the preemptive or other similar rights of any securityholder of the Company. The Securities, the Class A Shares and the Warrants conform to all statements relating thereto contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and such description conforms to the rights set forth in the instruments defining the same. No holder of Securities, Class A Shares or Warrants is or will be subject to personal liability by reason of being such a holder.
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(xvi) Authorization and Description of the Private Placement Warrants. The Private Placement Warrants have been duly authorized for issuance and sale by the Company and, when issued and delivered in the manner set forth in the Private Placement Agreement against payment of the consideration set forth therein, will be duly and validly issued and delivered and will constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by the Enforceability Exceptions. The Private Placement Warrants conform to all statements relating thereto contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and such description conforms to the rights set forth in the instruments defining the same.
(xvii) Authorization and Description of the Founder Shares. The Founder Shares have been duly authorized for issuance and sale pursuant to the Subscription Agreement and are duly and validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. The issuance of the Founder Shares was not subject to the preemptive or other similar rights of any securityholder of the Company. The sales of the Founder Shares by the Company to the Sponsor and by the Sponsor to its transferees (including the Anchor Investors) were exempt from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act and any applicable other securities and blue sky laws. The Founder Shares conform to all statements relating thereto contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and such description conforms to the rights set forth in the instruments defining the same.
(xviii) Authorization of the Class A Shares Issuable Upon Exercise of the Warrants, the Private Placement Warrants or Working Capital Warrants, If Any, or Upon Conversion of the Founder Shares. The Class A Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, the Private Placement Warrants or the Working Capital Warrants, if any, or upon conversion of the Founder Shares have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance upon exercise thereof and, when issued and delivered against payment of the consideration therefor pursuant thereto, will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. The issuance of such Class A Shares will not be subject to the preemptive or other similar rights of any securityholder of the Company. The holders of such Class A Shares will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders. All company action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of such Class A Shares (other than such execution (if applicable), countersignature (if applicable) and delivery at the time of issuance) has been duly and validly taken.
(xix) Authorization of the Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Anchor Investment Agreements, the Private Placement Agreement and the Administrative Services Agreement. Each of the Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Anchor Investment Agreements, the Private Placement Agreement and the Administrative Services Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and the Sponsor and is a valid and legally binding agreement of the Company and the Sponsor, enforceable against the Company and the Sponsor, in accordance with its terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by the Enforceability Exceptions.
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(xx) Authorization of the Insider Letter. The Insider Letter has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company, the Sponsor and, to the knowledge of the Company, each officer and director of the Company, respectively, and is a valid and legally binding agreement of the Company, the Sponsor and, to the knowledge of the Company, each such officer and director, respectively, enforceable against the Company, the Sponsor and, to the knowledge of the Company, each such officer and director, respectively, in accordance with its terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by the Enforceability Exceptions.
(xxi) Authorization of the Trust Agreement and Warrant Agreement. Each of the Trust Agreement and the Warrant Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and, assuming due authorization, execution and delivery by the Trustee and Warrant Agent, respectively, is a valid and legally binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by the Enforceability Exceptions.
(xxii) Communications with Potential Business Combination Targets. Prior to the date hereof, neither the Company nor anyone on its behalf (including but not limited to the Sponsor or anyone on its behalf) has, or as of the Closing Time or any Date of Delivery will have, selected any Business Combination target or initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any Business Combination target.
(xxiii) Absence of Violations, Defaults and Conflicts. The Company is not (A) in violation of its charter, by-laws or similar organizational document, (B) in default in the performance or observance of any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any contract, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan or credit agreement, note, lease or other agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by which it may be bound or to which any of the properties or assets of the Company is subject (collectively, “Agreements and Instruments”), except for such defaults that would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect, or (C) in violation of any law, statute, rule, regulation, judgment, order, writ or decree of any arbitrator, court, governmental body, regulatory body, administrative agency or other authority, body or agency having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its properties, assets or operations (each, a “Governmental Entity”), except for such violations that would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect. Other than the repayment of the Note upon the Closing, the execution, delivery and performance of the Operative Agreements and the consummation of the transactions contemplated herein and therein and in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (including the issuance and sale of the Securities and the use of the proceeds from the sale of the Securities as described therein under the caption “Use of Proceeds”) and compliance by the Company with its obligations hereunder and thereunder have been duly authorized by all necessary company action and do not and will not, whether with or without the giving of notice or passage of time or both, conflict with or constitute a breach of, or default or Repayment Event (as defined below) under, or result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any properties or assets of the Company pursuant to, the Agreements and Instruments (except for such conflicts, breaches, defaults or Repayment Events or liens, charges or encumbrances that would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect), nor will such action result in any violation of the provisions of the charter, by-laws or similar organizational document of the Company or any law, statute, rule, regulation, judgment, order, writ or decree of any Governmental Entity. As used herein, a “Repayment Event” means any event or condition which gives the holder of any note, debenture or other evidence of indebtedness (or any person acting on such holder’s behalf) the right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a portion of such indebtedness by the Company.
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(xxiv) Absence of Labor Dispute. No labor dispute with the employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent, and the Company is not aware of any existing or imminent labor disturbance by the employees of any of its or any subsidiary’s principal suppliers, manufacturers, customers or contractors, which, in either case, would result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(xxv) Absence of Proceedings. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or brought by any Governmental Entity now pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened, against or affecting the Company, which might result in a Material Adverse Effect, or which might materially and adversely affect its properties or assets or the consummation of the transactions contemplated in the Operative Agreements or the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and thereunder; and the aggregate of all pending legal or governmental proceedings to which the Company is a party or of which any of its properties, assets or operations is the subject which are not described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, including ordinary routine litigation incidental to the business, could not result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(xxvi) Accuracy of Disclosures. The statements in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the headings “Principal Shareholders,” “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions,” and “Description of Securities,” insofar as such statements summarize legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings discussed therein, are accurate and fair summaries in all material respects of such legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings.
(xxvii) Description of Related Party Transactions, Contracts and Exhibits. There are no business relationships or related party transactions involving the Company or any other person required by the 1933 Act to be described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus that have not been described as required. There are no contracts or documents which are required to be described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement which have not been so described and filed as required.
(xxviii) Absence of Further Requirements. No filing with, or authorization, approval, consent, license, order, registration, qualification or decree of, any Governmental Entity is necessary or required for the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder, in connection with the offering, issuance or sale of the Securities hereunder or the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Operative Agreements, except such as have been already obtained or as may be required under the 1933 Act, the 1933 Act Regulations, the rules of the Nasdaq Global Market (the “Exchange”), state and non-U.S. securities and blue sky laws or the rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”).
(xxix) Compliance with FINRA Rules.
(a) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company has not made any direct or indirect payments (in cash, securities or any other form of “underwriting compensation,” as defined in Rule 5110 of FINRA’s Conduct Rules and the Supplementary Material to such rule): (i) to any person, as a finder’s fee, consulting and/or advisory fee or otherwise, in consideration of such person (A) raising capital for the Company or introducing to the Company persons who raised capital for or provided capital to the Company or (B) otherwise advising, or providing consulting to, the Company with respect to the offering and sale of the Securities; (ii) to any member of FINRA (a “Member”); or (iii) to any person or entity that has any direct or indirect affiliation or association with any Member, or to any immediate family member of any such associated person (as defined in FINRA Rule 5110), during the 180-day period prior to the initial filing date of the Registration Statement through the date of this Agreement, and the Company does not anticipate making any such payment during the 60-day period following the effective date of the Registration Statement, other than payments to the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement.
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(b) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, during the period beginning 180 days prior to the initial filing date of the Registration Statement and ending on the effectiveness date of the Registration Statement, no Member and/or any person associated or affiliated with a Member has provided any investment banking, financial advisory and/or consulting services to the Company, and the Company does not anticipate making any such payment during the 60-day period following the effective date of the Registration Statement.
(c) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, to the Company’s knowledge, no officer or director of the Company, or beneficial owner of 10% or more of the outstanding shares of any class of the Company’s equity or equity-linked securities, as defined in FINRA Rule 5110 (whether registered or unregistered, regardless of the time acquired or the source from which derived) (any such individual or entity, a “Company Affiliate”), is a “Participating Member,” as defined in Rule 5110 of FINRA’s Conduct Rules (a “Participating Member”), or a person associated or affiliated with a Participating Member.
(d) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, to the Company’s knowledge, no Company Affiliate is the beneficial owner of 10% or more of the outstanding equity, including preferred equity, securities of any Participating Member.
(e) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no proceeds from the sale of the Securities (excluding underwriting compensation as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus) will be paid by the Company to any Participating Member or any persons associated or affiliated with a Participating Member.
(f) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company has not issued any warrants or other securities, or granted any options, directly or indirectly to anyone who is a potential Participating Member in the offering and sale of the Securities within the 180-day period prior to the initial filing date of the Registration Statement through the date of this Agreement, and which is exercisable within 60 days following the Participating Member’s participating in the offering and sale of the Securities.
(g) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, to the Company’s knowledge, no person to whom securities of the Company have been privately issued within the 180-day period prior to the initial filing date of the Registration Statement through the date of this Agreement has any affiliation or association with any Participating Member, and the Company does not expect to issue any such securities during the 60-day period following the effective date of the Registration Statement. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no Participating Member has a conflict of interest with the Company as such term is defined in FINRA Rule 5121.
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(xxx) Listing; Compliance with Exchange Rules. The Securities, the Class A Shares and the Warrants have been approved for listing on the Exchange, subject to official notice of issuance. There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of the Company’s officers or directors, in their capacities as such, to comply with (as and when applicable), and immediately following the effectiveness date of the Registration Statement the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge, the officers and directors of the Company, in their capacities as such, will be in compliance with the phase-in requirements and all other provisions of the Exchange’s corporate governance requirements set forth in the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules.
(xxxi) Possession of Licenses and Permits. The Company possesses such permits, licenses, approvals, consents and other authorizations (collectively, “Governmental Licenses”) issued by the appropriate Governmental Entities necessary to conduct the business now operated by it, except where the failure so to possess would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect. The Company is in compliance with the terms and conditions of all Governmental Licenses, except where the failure so to comply would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect. All of the Governmental Licenses are valid and in full force and effect, except when the invalidity of such Governmental Licenses or the failure of such Governmental Licenses to be in full force and effect would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect. The Company has not received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any Governmental Licenses which, singly or in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(xxxii) Title to Property. The Company has good and marketable title to all real property owned by it and good title to all other properties owned by it, in each case, free and clear of all mortgages, pledges, liens, security interests, claims, restrictions or encumbrances of any kind except such as (A) are described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or (B) do not, singly or in the aggregate, materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company; and all of the leases and subleases material to the business of the Company and under which the Company holds properties described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, are in full force and effect, and the Company has no notice of any material claim of any sort that has been asserted by anyone adverse to the rights of the Company under any of the leases or subleases mentioned above, or affecting or questioning the rights of the Company to the continued possession of the leased or subleased premises under any such lease or sublease.
(xxxiii) Possession of Intellectual Property. The Company owns or possesses, or can acquire on reasonable terms, adequate patents, patent rights, licenses, inventions, copyrights, know-how (including trade secrets and other unpatented and/or unpatentable proprietary or confidential information, systems or procedures), trademarks, service marks, trade names or other intellectual property (collectively, “Intellectual Property”) necessary to carry on the business now operated by it, and the Company has not received any notice and is not otherwise aware of any infringement of or conflict with asserted rights of others with respect to any Intellectual Property or of any facts or circumstances which would render any Intellectual Property invalid or inadequate to protect the interest of the Company therein, and which infringement or conflict (if the subject of any unfavorable decision, ruling or finding) or invalidity or inadequacy, singly or in the aggregate, would result in a Material Adverse Effect.
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(xxxiv) Environmental Laws. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect, (A) the Company is not in violation of any federal, state, local or foreign statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, code, policy or rule of common law or any judicial or administrative interpretation thereof, including any judicial or administrative order, consent, decree or judgment, relating to pollution or protection of human health, the environment (including, without limitation, ambient air, surface water, groundwater, land surface or subsurface strata) or wildlife, including, without limitation, laws and regulations relating to the release or threatened release of chemicals, pollutants, contaminants, wastes, toxic substances, hazardous substances, petroleum or petroleum products, asbestos-containing materials or mold (collectively, “Hazardous Materials”) or to the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment, storage, disposal, transport or handling of Hazardous Materials (collectively, “Environmental Laws”), (B) the Company has all permits, authorizations and approvals required under any applicable Environmental Laws and is in compliance with their requirements, (C) there are no pending or threatened administrative, regulatory or judicial actions, suits, demands, demand letters, claims, liens, notices of noncompliance or violation, investigations or proceedings relating to any Environmental Law against the Company and (D) there are no events or circumstances that would reasonably be expected to form the basis of an order for clean-up or remediation, or an action, suit or proceeding by any private party or Governmental Entity, against or affecting the Company relating to Hazardous Materials or any Environmental Laws.
(xxxv) Accounting Controls and Disclosure Controls. The Company maintains effective internal control over financial reporting (as defined under Rule 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the 1934 Act Regulations) and a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that: (A) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; (B) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP and to maintain accountability for assets; (C) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (D) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, since the end of the Company’s most recent audited fiscal year or period, there has been (1) no material weakness or significant deficiency in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated) and (2) no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
(xxxvi) Compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Company has taken all necessary actions to ensure that, upon the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, it will be in compliance with all provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or implementing the provisions thereof (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) that are then in effect and with which the Company is required to comply as of the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, and is actively taking steps to ensure that it will be in compliance with other provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act not currently in effect, upon the effectiveness of such provisions, or which will become applicable to the Company at all times after the effectiveness of the Registration Statement.
(xxxvii) Payment of Taxes. All United States federal income tax returns of the Company required by law to be filed have been filed and all taxes shown by such returns or otherwise assessed, which are due and payable, have been paid, and no assessment in connection therewith has been made against the Company. The Company has filed all other tax returns that are required to have been filed by it pursuant to applicable foreign, state, local or other law except insofar as the failure to file such returns would not result in a Material Adverse Effect, and has paid all taxes due pursuant to such returns or pursuant to any assessment received by the Company, except for such taxes, if any, as are being contested in good faith and as to which adequate reserves have been established by the Company. The charges, accruals and reserves on the books of the Company in respect of any income and corporation tax liability for any years not finally determined are adequate to meet any assessments or re-assessments for additional income tax for any years not finally determined, except to the extent of any inadequacy that would not result in a Material Adverse Effect.
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(xxxviii) Insurance. The Company carries or is entitled to the benefits of insurance, with financially sound and reputable insurers, in such amounts and covering such risks as is generally maintained by companies of established repute engaged in the same or similar business, and all such insurance is in full force and effect. The Company has no reason to believe that it will not be able (A) to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such policies expire or (B) to obtain comparable coverage from similar institutions as may be necessary or appropriate to conduct its business as now conducted and at a cost that would not result in a Material Adverse Effect. The Company has not been denied any insurance coverage which it has sought or for which it has applied.
(xxxix) Investment Company Act. The Company is not required, and upon the issuance and sale of the Securities as herein contemplated and the application of the net proceeds therefrom as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus will not be required, to register as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”).
(xl) Absence of Manipulation. Neither the Company nor any affiliate of the Company has taken, nor will the Company or any affiliate take, directly or indirectly, any action which is designed, or would be expected, to cause or result in, or which constitutes, the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities or to result in, or which constitutes, a violation of Regulation M under the 1934 Act.
(xli) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Neither the Company nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person acting on behalf of the Company is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “FCPA”), including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA; and the Company and, to the knowledge of the Company, its affiliates have conducted their businesses in compliance with the FCPA and have instituted and maintain policies and procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance therewith.
(xlii) Money Laundering Laws. The operations of the Company are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any Governmental Entity (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”); and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any Governmental Entity involving the Company with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.
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(xliii) OFAC. Neither the Company nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or representative of the Company is an individual or entity (“Person”) currently the subject or target of any sanctions administered or enforced by the United States Government, including, without limitation, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), the United Nations Security Council (“UNSC”), the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury (“HMT”), or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”), nor is the Company located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject of Sanctions; and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the sale of the Securities, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other Person, to fund any activities of or business with any Person, or in any country or territory, that, at the time of such funding, is the subject of Sanctions or in any other manner that will result in a violation by any Person (including any Person participating in the transaction, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise) of Sanctions.
(xliv) Lending Relationship. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company (i) does not have any material lending or other relationship with any bank or lending affiliate of any Underwriter and (ii) does not intend to use any of the proceeds from the sale of the Securities to repay any outstanding debt owed to any affiliate of any Underwriter.
(xlv) Unlawful Influence. The Company has not offered, or caused any of the Underwriters to offer, the Securities to any person with the intention of unlawfully influencing (a) a customer or supplier of the Company or any affiliate of the Company to alter the customer’s or supplier’s level or type of business with the Company or such affiliate or (b) a journalist or publication to write or publish favorable information about the Company or any such affiliate.
(xlvi) USA Patriot Act. The Company acknowledges that, in accordance with the requirements of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Restrict, Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (the “USA Patriot Act”), the Underwriters are required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies their respective clients, including the Company, which information may include the name and address of their respective clients, as well as other information that will allow the Underwriters to properly identify their respective clients.
(xlvii) D&O Questionnaires. To the Company’s knowledge, all information contained in the questionnaires (the “Questionnaires”) completed by the Sponsor and the Company’s officers, directors and director nominees and provided to the Underwriters is true and correct and the Company has not become aware of any information that would cause the information disclosed in the Questionnaires completed by the Sponsor or the Company’s officers, directors and director nominees to become inaccurate or incorrect.
(xlviii) No Rating. The Company does not have any debt or preferred securities that are rated by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” (as defined in Section 3(a)(62) of the 1934 Act).
(xlix) Statistical and Market-Related Data. Any statistical and market-related data included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company believes, after reasonable inquiry, to be reliable and accurate and, to the extent required, the Company has obtained the written consent to the use of such data from such sources.
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(l) Cybersecurity. (A) There has been no security breach or incident, unauthorized access or disclosure, or other compromise of or relating to the Company information technology and computer systems, networks, hardware, software, data and databases (including the data and information of their respective customers, employees, suppliers, vendors and any third party data maintained, processed or stored by the Company, and any such data processed or stored by third parties on behalf of the Company), equipment or technology (collectively, “IT Systems and Data”); (B) the Company has not been notified of, and has no knowledge of, any event or condition that could result in, any security breach or incident, unauthorized access or disclosure or other compromise to their IT Systems and Data; and (C) the Company has implemented appropriate controls, policies, procedures, and technological safeguards to maintain and protect the integrity, continuous operation, redundancy and security of their IT Systems and Data reasonably consistent with industry standards and practices, or as required by applicable regulatory standards. The Company is presently in material compliance with all applicable laws or statutes and all judgments, orders, rules and regulations of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, internal policies and contractual obligations relating to the privacy and security of IT Systems and Data and to the protection of such IT Systems and Data from unauthorized use, access, misappropriation or modification.
(li) No Integration. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company has not sold, issued or distributed any securities during the six-month period preceding the date hereof, including any sales pursuant to Rule 144A under, or Regulation D or S of, the 1933 Act. Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates has, prior to the date hereof, made any offer or sale of any securities that are required to be “integrated” pursuant to the 1933 Act with the offering and sale of the Securities pursuant to the Registration Statement.
(lii) “Penny Stock” Securities. Upon delivery and payment for the Securities as of the Closing Time and any Date of Delivery, the Company will not be subject to Rule 419 under the 1933 Act and none of the Company’s outstanding securities will be deemed to be a “penny stock,” as defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the 1934 Act.
(liii) Finder’s or Broker’s Fees. Except pursuant to this Agreement, the Company has not incurred any liability for any finder’s or broker’s fee or agent’s commission in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or by the Registration Statement.
(liv) Ownership in Entities. The Company does not own an interest in any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust or other entity.
(lv) No Contractual Issues. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosures Package and the Prospectus, to the Company’s knowledge, neither the Sponsor nor any director or officer of the Company is subject to a non-competition, non-solicitation or other agreement with any employer or prior employer that could materially affect its, his or her ability to be and act in the capacity of shareholder, director, director nominee or officer of the Company, as applicable.
(lvi) No Stamp Taxes, etc. There are no transfer, stamp, issue, registration, documentary taxes or other similar duties, fees or charges under U.S. federal law or the laws of any state, or any political subdivision hereof, or under the laws of any non-U.S. jurisdiction, required to be paid in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the issuance or sale by the Company of the Securities.
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(b) Officer’s Certificates. Any certificate signed by any officer of the Company delivered to the Representatives or to counsel for the Underwriters shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company to each Underwriter as to the matters covered thereby.
SECTION 2. Sale and Delivery to Underwriters; Closing.
(a) Initial Securities. On the basis of the representations and warranties herein contained and subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to sell to each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, and each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, agrees to purchase from the Company, at the price per Security set forth in Schedule A, that number of Initial Securities set forth in Schedule A opposite the name of such Underwriter, plus any additional number of Initial Securities which such Underwriter may become obligated to purchase pursuant to the provisions of Section 10 hereof, subject, in each case, to such adjustments among the Underwriters as the Representatives in their sole discretion shall make to eliminate any sales or purchases of fractional Securities.
(b) Option Securities. In addition, on the basis of the representations and warranties herein contained and subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company hereby grants an option to the Underwriters, severally and not jointly, to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 Units as Option Securities, at the price per Security set forth in Schedule A, less an amount per Option Security equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and paid or payable on the Initial Securities but not payable on the Option Securities. The option hereby granted may be exercised for 45 days after the date hereof and may be exercised in whole or in part at any time from time to time upon notice by the Representatives to the Company setting forth the number of Option Securities as to which the several Underwriters are then exercising the option and the time and date of payment and delivery for such Option Securities. Any such time and date of delivery (a “Date of Delivery”) shall be determined by the Representatives, but shall not be later than seven full business days after the exercise of said option, nor in any event prior to the Closing Time. If the option is exercised as to all or any portion of the Option Securities, each of the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, will purchase that proportion of the total number of Option Securities then being purchased which the number of Initial Securities set forth in Schedule A opposite the name of such Underwriter bears to the total number of Initial Securities, subject, in each case, to such adjustments as the Representatives in their sole discretion shall make to eliminate any sales or purchases of fractional Securities.
(c) Payment. Payment of the Initial Securities shall be made at the offices of Sidley Austin LLP, or at such other place as shall be agreed upon by the Representatives and the Company, at 9:00 A.M. (New York City time) on the second (third, if the pricing occurs after 4:30 P.M. (New York City time) on any given day) business day after the date hereof (unless postponed in accordance with the provisions of Section 10), or such other time not later than ten business days after such date as shall be agreed upon by the Representatives and the Company (such time and date of payment and delivery being herein called “Closing Time”).
In addition, in the event that any or all of the Option Securities are purchased by the Underwriters, payment of the purchase price for, such Option Securities shall be made at the above-mentioned offices, or at such other place as shall be agreed upon by the Representatives and the Company, on each Date of Delivery as specified in the notice from the Representatives to the Company.
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Payment for the Initial Securities on the Closing Time shall be made as follows: a portion of the net proceeds for the Initial Securities (including the Deferred Discount (as defined below) attributable to the Initial Securities) shall be deposited in the Trust Account pursuant to the terms of the Trust Agreement along with the gross proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants in order for the Trust Account to equal the product of the number of Units sold and the public offering price per Unit as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus upon delivery to the Representatives of the Initial Securities through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or, if the Representatives have otherwise instructed, upon delivery to the Representatives of certificates (in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives) representing the Initial Securities, in each case for the account of the Underwriters. The Initial Securities shall be registered in such name or names and in such authorized denominations as the Representatives may request in writing at least two business days prior to the Closing Time. If delivery is not made through the facilities of DTC, the Company will permit the Representatives to examine and package the Initial Securities for delivery, at least one business day prior to the Closing Time at a location in New York City as the Representatives may designate. Payment by the Underwriters for the Initial Securities is contingent upon (i) payment by the Sponsor to the Company for the Private Placement Warrants and (ii) deposit of the gross proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants by or at the direction of the Company into the Trust Account, in each case at least one business day prior to the Closing Time and in accordance with the terms of the Private Placement Agreement.
Payment for the Option Securities on each Date of Delivery, if any, shall be made as follows: the purchase price for the Option Securities set forth in Schedule A hereto (including any Deferred Discount attributable to the Option Securities) shall be deposited in the Trust Account pursuant to the terms of the Trust Agreement along with the gross proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants in order for the Trust Account (excluding any interest earned on amounts in the Trust Account) to equal the product of the number of Units sold in the public offering and the public offering price per Unit as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus upon delivery to the Representatives of the Option Securities through the facilities of DTC or, if the Representatives have otherwise instructed, upon delivery to the Representatives of certificates (in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives) representing the Option Securities, in each case for the account of the Underwriters. The Option Securities shall be registered in such name or names and in such authorized denominations as the Representatives may request in writing at least two business days prior to the Date of Delivery. If delivery is not made through the facilities of DTC, the Company will permit the Representatives to examine and package the Option Securities for delivery, at least one business day prior to the Date of Delivery. Payment by the Underwriters for the Option Securities is contingent upon (i) payment by the Sponsor to the Company for the Private Placement Warrants and (ii) deposit of the gross proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants by or at the direction of the Company into the Trust Account, in each case at least one business day prior to the applicable Date of Delivery and in accordance with the terms of the Private Placement Agreement.
It is understood that each Underwriter has authorized the Representatives, for its account, to accept delivery of, receipt for, and make payment of the purchase price for, the Initial Securities and the Option Securities, if any, which it has agreed to purchase. Either BofA or JPM, individually and not as Representatives of the Underwriters, may (but shall not be obligated to) make payment of the purchase price for the Initial Securities or the Option Securities, if any, to be purchased by any Underwriter whose funds have not been received by the Closing Time or the relevant Date of Delivery, as the case may be, but such payment shall not relieve such Underwriter from its obligations hereunder.
In addition to the discount from the public offering price represented by the purchase price set forth in Schedule A hereto, the Company hereby agrees to pay to the Underwriters a deferred discount of $0.35 per Security (including both Initial Securities and Option Securities) purchased hereunder (collectively, the “Deferred Discount”). The aggregate amount of the Deferred Discount will be paid directly to the Representatives, on behalf of the Underwriters, by the Trustee from amounts on deposit in the Trust Account by wire transfer payable in same-day funds if and when the Company consummates the initial Business Combination, and the Company will deliver all such notices and instructions to the Trustee, and shall take all such other actions, as shall be necessary to cause such payment to be made promptly. The Underwriters hereby agree that if no Business Combination is consummated within the time period provided in the Company’s charter and the funds held under the Trust Agreement are distributed to the holders (the “Public Shareholders”) of the Class A Shares included in the Securities sold pursuant to this Agreement (the “Public Shares”), (i) the Underwriters will forfeit any rights or claims to the Deferred Discount and (ii) the Trustee under the Trust Agreement is authorized to distribute the Deferred Discount to the Public Shareholders holding Public Shares on a pro rata basis.
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SECTION 3. Covenants of the Company. The Company covenants with each Underwriter as follows:
(a) Compliance with Securities Regulations and Commission Requests. The Company, subject to Section 3(b), will comply with the requirements of Rule 430A, and will notify the Representatives immediately, and confirm the notice in writing, (i) when any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement shall become effective or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus shall have been filed, (ii) of the receipt of any comments from the Commission, (iii) of any request by the Commission for any amendment to the Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus or for additional information, (iv) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus, or of the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, or of the initiation or threatening of any proceedings for any of such purposes or of any examination pursuant to Section 8(d) or 8(e) of the 1933 Act concerning the Registration Statement and (v) if the Company becomes the subject of a proceeding under Section 8A of the 1933 Act in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities. The Company will effect all filings required under Rule 424(b), in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b) (without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8)), and will take such steps as it deems necessary to ascertain promptly whether the form of prospectus transmitted for filing under Rule 424(b) was received for filing by the Commission and, in the event that it was not, it will promptly file such prospectus. The Company will make every reasonable effort to prevent the issuance of any stop, prevention or suspension order and, if any such order is issued, to obtain the lifting thereof at the earliest possible moment.
(b) Continued Compliance with Securities Laws. The Company will comply with the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations so as to permit the completion of the distribution of the Securities as contemplated in this Agreement and in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. If at any time when a prospectus relating to the Securities is (or, but for the exception afforded by Rule 172 of the 1933 Act Regulations (“Rule 172”), would be) required by the 1933 Act to be delivered in connection with sales of the Securities, any event shall occur or condition shall exist as a result of which it is necessary, in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters or for the Company, to (i) amend the Registration Statement in order that the Registration Statement will not include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, (ii) amend or supplement the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus in order that the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, as the case may be, will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading in the light of the circumstances existing at the time it is delivered to a purchaser or (iii) amend the Registration Statement or amend or supplement the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, as the case may be, in order to comply with the requirements of the 1933 Act or the 1933 Act Regulations, the Company will promptly (A) give the Representatives notice of such event, (B) prepare any amendment or supplement as may be necessary to correct such statement or omission or to make the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus comply with such requirements and, a reasonable amount of time prior to any proposed filing or use, furnish the Representatives with copies of any such amendment or supplement and (C) file with the Commission any such amendment or supplement; provided that the Company shall not file or use any such amendment or supplement to which the Representatives or counsel for the Underwriters shall object. The Company will furnish to the Underwriters such number of copies of such amendment or supplement as the Underwriters may reasonably request. The Company has given the Representatives notice of any filings made pursuant to the 1934 Act or 1934 Act Regulations within 48 hours prior to the Applicable Time; the Company will give the Representatives notice of its intention to make any such filing from the Applicable Time to the earlier of (i) the exercise in full of the Underwriters’ option described in Section 2(b) hereof and (ii) the expiration of such option in accordance with Section 2(b) hereof and will furnish the Representatives with copies of any such documents a reasonable amount of time prior to such proposed filing, as the case may be, and will not file or use any such document to which the Representatives or counsel for the Underwriters shall reasonably object.
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(c) Delivery of Registration Statements. The Company has furnished or will deliver to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters, without charge, signed copies of the Registration Statement as originally filed and each amendment thereto (including exhibits filed therewith) and signed copies of all consents and certificates of experts, and will also deliver to the Representatives, without charge, a conformed copy of the Registration Statement as originally filed and each amendment thereto (without exhibits) for each of the Underwriters. The copies of the Registration Statement and each amendment thereto furnished to the Underwriters will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.
(d) Delivery of Prospectuses. The Company has delivered to each Underwriter, without charge, as many copies of each preliminary prospectus as such Underwriter reasonably requested, and the Company hereby consents to the use of such copies for purposes permitted by the 1933 Act. The Company will furnish to each Underwriter, without charge, during the period when a prospectus relating to the Securities is (or, but for the exception afforded by Rule 172, would be) required to be delivered under the 1933 Act, such number of copies of the Prospectus (as amended or supplemented) as such Underwriter may reasonably request. The Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto furnished to the Underwriters will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.
(e) Blue Sky Qualifications. The Company will use its best efforts, in cooperation with the Underwriters, to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the applicable securities laws of such states and other jurisdictions (domestic or foreign) as the Representatives may designate and to maintain such qualifications in effect so long as required to complete the distribution of the Securities; provided, however, that the Company shall not be obligated to file any general consent to service of process or to qualify as a foreign corporation or as a dealer in securities in any jurisdiction in which it is not so qualified or to subject itself to taxation in respect of doing business in any jurisdiction in which it is not otherwise so subject.
(f) Rule 158. The Company will timely file such reports pursuant to the 1934 Act as are necessary in order to make generally available to its securityholders as soon as practicable an earnings statement for the purposes of, and to provide to the Underwriters the benefits contemplated by, the last paragraph of Section 11(a) of the 1933 Act.
(g) Use of Proceeds. The Company will use the net proceeds received by it from the sale of the Securities in the manner specified in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under “Use of Proceeds.”
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(h) Listing. The Company will use its best efforts to effect and, for a period commencing on the effectiveness date of the Registration Statement and (i) ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation (as defined below) occurs or the Company is acquired (and is not the surviving entity) or completes a going private transaction after the consummation of a Business Combination (as applicable, a “Termination Date”), to maintain the listing of the Class A Shares and (ii) ending on the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs or the Company is acquired (and is not the surviving entity) or completes a going private transaction after the consummation of a Business Combination, to maintain the listing of the Securities and Warrants, in each case on the Exchange; provided, however, if all of the outstanding Securities separate into their component parts, the Company will no longer be required to maintain the listing of the Securities on the Exchange.
(i) Restriction on Sale of Securities. During a period of 180 days from the date of the Prospectus, the Company will not, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, (x)(i) directly or indirectly, offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of any Units, Class A Shares, Founder Shares, Warrants or any securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, Units, Class A Shares, Founder Shares or Warrants or file with, or confidentially submit to, the Commission any registration statement under the 1933 Act with respect to any of the foregoing or publicly disclose the intention to undertake any of the foregoing or (ii) enter into any swap or any other agreement or any transaction that transfers, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, the economic consequence of ownership of the Units, Class A Shares, Founder Shares or Warrants or any such other securities, whether any such swap or transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of any Units, Class A Shares, Founder Shares or Warrants or other securities, in cash or otherwise, or (y) release the Sponsor or any officer or director of the Company or any of their respective transferees from the 180-day lock up contained in the Insider Letter or amend such provision. Clause (x) of the foregoing sentence shall not apply to (A) the Initial Securities and the Option Securities to be sold hereunder, (B) the issuance and sale of the Private Placement Warrants, (C) registration of the resale of securities under the 1933 Act pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement in accordance with the terms of the Registration Rights Agreement or (D) issuance of securities in connection with a Business Combination. As used in this Section 3(i), references to the term “Warrants” shall include the Warrants, the Private Placement Warrants and the Working Capital Warrants (as each such term is defined in this Agreement).
(j) Reporting Requirements. The Company, during the period when a Prospectus relating to the Securities is (or, but for the exception afforded by Rule 172, would be) required to be delivered under the 1933 Act, will file all documents required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to the 1934 Act within the time periods required by the 1934 Act and 1934 Act Regulations.
(k) Free Writing Prospectuses. The Company agrees that it will not make any offer relating to the Securities that constitutes or would constitute a Free Writing Prospectus or that would otherwise constitute a “free writing prospectus,” or a portion thereof, required to be filed by the Company with the Commission or retained by the Company under Rule 433.
(l) Certification Regarding Beneficial Owners. The Company will deliver to the Representatives, on the date of execution of this Agreement, a properly completed and executed Certification Regarding Beneficial Owners of Legal Entity Customers, together with copies of identifying documentation, and the Company undertakes to provide such additional supporting documentation as the Representatives may reasonably request in connection with the verification of the foregoing certification.
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(m) Testing-the-Waters Materials. If at any time following the distribution of any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication included or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Company will promptly notify the Representatives and will promptly amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication to eliminate or correct such untrue statement or omission.
(n) Investment Company Act. The Company shall cause a portion of the proceeds of the offering and sale of the Securities and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants meeting the requirements of the second paragraph of Section 2(c) hereof to be held in the Trust Account to be invested only in United States government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act as set forth in the Trust Agreement and disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. The Company will otherwise conduct its business in a manner so that it will not become subject to the 1940 Act. Furthermore, once the Company consummates a Business Combination, it will not be required to register as an investment company under the 1940 Act.
(o) Maintenance of Funds in the Trust Account. During the period prior to the Company’s initial Business Combination or Liquidation (as defined below), the Company may instruct the Trustee under the Trust Agreement to release from the Trust Account, solely from interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account, the amounts necessary to pay taxes. Otherwise, all funds held in the Trust Account (including any interest income earned on the amounts held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable)) will remain in the Trust Account until the earlier of the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination, any amendment the Company proposes to its charter pursuant to which Public Shareholders are offered the right to redeem their Public Shares in connection therewith as contemplated in the last sentence of Section 3(t) hereof or the Liquidation; provided, however, that in the event of the Liquidation, up to $100,000 of interest income may be released to the Company if the proceeds of the offering and sale of the Securities and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held by the Company outside of the Trust Account are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing the Company’s plan of dissolution. For purposes of this Agreement, “Liquidation” means the distribution of the Trust Account to the Public Shareholders in connection with the redemption of Class A Shares held by the Public Shareholders pursuant to the terms of the Company’s charter if the Company fails to consummate an initial Business Combination.
(p) Maintaining Registration of Securities. Until the Termination Date, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the registration of the Units, Class A Shares and Warrants under the 1934 Act. The Company will not deregister the Units, Class A Shares or Warrants under the 1934 Act prior to the Termination Date without the prior written consent of the Representatives.
(q) Agreement Not to Issue Additional Securities. Prior to the consummation of an initial Business Combination or the Liquidation, the Company shall not issue any Units, Class A Shares or Warrants, public or private, or any options or other securities convertible into Units, Class A Shares or Warrants, or any preferred securities, in each case, that participate in any manner in the Trust Account or that vote as a class with the Class A Shares on a Business Combination.
(r) Registrar, Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent. For a period commencing on the date hereof and ending on the Termination Date, the Company shall retain a registrar, transfer agent and warrant agent covering the Securities, the Class A Shares and the Warrants.
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(s) No Business Combination with Affiliates. The Company will not consummate a Business Combination with any entity that is affiliated with the Sponsor or any of the Company’s officers or directors unless it obtains an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such Business Combination is fair to the Company’s shareholders from a financial point of view. The Company shall not pay the Sponsor or its affiliates or any of the Company’s officers or directors or any of their respective affiliates any fees or compensation for services rendered to the Company prior to, or in connection with, the consummation of a Business Combination; provided, however, that such officers, directors and affiliates (i) may receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing a Business Combination to the extent that such expenses do not exceed the amount of available proceeds not deposited in the Trust Account, (ii) may be repaid loans as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and (iii) may be paid $10,000 per month under the Administrative Services Agreement.
(t) Consummation of the Initial Business Combination. The Company, subject to the Company’s charter, may consummate the initial Business Combination and conduct redemptions of Public Shares for cash upon consummation of such Business Combination without a shareholder vote pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E under the 1934 Act, including the filing of tender offer documents with the Commission. Such tender offer documents will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial Business Combination and the redemption rights as is required under the Commission’s proxy rules and will provide each Public Shareholder with the opportunity prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination to redeem the Public Shares held by such Public Shareholder for an amount of cash equal to (A) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two (2) business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, representing (x) the proceeds held in the Trust Account from the offering and the sale of the Securities and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and (y) any interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by (B) the total number of Public Shares then outstanding. If, however, the Company elects not to file such tender offer documents, a shareholder vote is required by law or stock exchange rules in connection with the initial Business Combination, or the Company decides to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will submit such Business Combination to the Company’s shareholders for their approval (“Business Combination Vote”). With respect to the initial Business Combination Vote, if any, each of the Sponsor, the Anchor Investors and the Company’s officers and directors has agreed to vote all of their Founder Shares and, each of the Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors has agreed to vote any Class A Shares they may acquire during or after the offering and sale of the Securities in favor of the Company’s initial Business Combination. If the Company seeks shareholder approval of the initial Business Combination, the Company will offer to each Public Shareholder the right to have its Public Shares redeemed in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules of the Commission at a per share redemption price (the “Redemption Price”) equal to (I) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two (2) business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, representing (1) the proceeds held in the Trust Account from the offering and the sale of the Securities and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and (2) any interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of any taxes payable), divided by (II) the total number of Public Shares then outstanding. If the Company seeks shareholder approval of the initial Business Combination, the Company may proceed with such Business Combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of capital stock present and entitled to vote thereon at a duly held shareholders meeting are voted to approve such Business Combination. If, after seeking and receiving such shareholder approval, the Company elects to so proceed, it will redeem Public Shares, at the Redemption Price, from those Public Shareholders who affirmatively requested such redemption. Only Public Shareholders holding Public Shares who properly exercise their redemption rights, in accordance with the applicable tender offer or proxy materials related to such Business Combination, shall be entitled to receive distributions from the Trust Account in connection with an initial Business Combination, and the Company shall pay no distributions with respect to any other holders of shares of capital stock of the Company in connection therewith. In the event that the Company does not effect a Business Combination within eighteen (18) months from the Closing Time (or any extension period provided for in the Company’s charter), the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten (10) business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and less up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of Public Shares then outstanding, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining shareholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Only Public Shareholders holding Public Shares shall be entitled to receive such redemption amounts and the Company shall pay no such redemption amounts or any distributions in liquidation with respect to any other shares of capital stock of the Company. The Company will not propose any amendment to its charter (A) to modify the substance or timing of its obligation to allow redemption in connection with the Company’s initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the outstanding Public Shares if the Company has not consummated a Business Combination within eighteen (18) months from the Closing Time (or such later date as has been approved pursuant to an amendment to the Company’s charter) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity as described in the Company’s charter, unless the Company offers the right to redeem the Public Shares in connection with such amendment.
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(u) Announcement of the Consummation of the Initial Business Combination. In the event that the Company desires or is required by an applicable law or regulation to cause an announcement (“Business Combination Announcement”) to be placed in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times or any other news or media publication or outlet or to be made via a public filing or submission with the Commission announcing the consummation of the Business Combination that indicates that the Underwriters were the underwriters in the offering and sale of the Securities, the Company shall supply the Representatives with a draft of the Business Combination Announcement and provide the Representatives with a reasonable advance opportunity to comment thereon, subject to the agreement of the Underwriters to keep confidential such draft announcement in accordance with the Representatives’ standard policies regarding confidential information.
(v) Payment of Deferred Discount. Upon the consummation of the initial Business Combination, the Company will pay, or direct the Trustee under the Trust Agreement to pay, the Representatives, on behalf of the Underwriters, the Deferred Discount out of the proceeds held in the Trust Account. The Underwriters shall have no claim to payment of any interest earned on the portion of the proceeds held in the Trust Account representing the Deferred Discount. If the Company fails to consummate its initial Business Combination within the time period provided in the Company’s charter, the Deferred Discount will not be paid to the Underwriters and will, instead, be included in the liquidation distribution of the proceeds held in the Trust Account made to the Public Shareholders holding Public Shares. In connection with any such Liquidation, the Underwriters forfeit any rights or claims to the Deferred Discount.
(w) Waiver of Interests to the Funds. Prior to the consummation of an initial Business Combination or the Liquidation, the Company will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than independent accountants), prospective target businesses, lenders or other entities (other than the Underwriters) with which it does business enter into an agreement waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of the Public Shareholders holding Public Shares.
(x) Emerging Growth Company Status. The Company will promptly notify the Representatives if the Company ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company at any time prior to the later of (i) completion of the distribution of the Securities within the meaning of the 1933 Act and (ii) completion of the 180-day period referred to in Section 3(i).
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(y) Reservation of Unissued Securities of the Company. The Company will reserve and keep available that maximum number of its authorized but unissued Class A Shares that are issuable upon exercise of all of the Warrants, the Private Placement Warrants and the Working Capital Warrants, if any, and upon conversion of any Founder Shares that are then outstanding.
(z) Cancellation of Founder Shares. Upon the earlier of (i) the exercise in full of the Underwriters’ option described in Section 2(b) hereof and (ii) the expiration of such option in accordance with the terms of Section 2(b) hereof, the Company shall cancel or otherwise effect the forfeiture of Founder Shares from the Sponsor, in an aggregate amount equal to the number of Founder Shares determined by multiplying (a) 750,000 by (b) a fraction, (i) the numerator of which is 3,000,000 minus the number of Class A Shares purchased by the Underwriters upon the exercise of their overallotment option to purchase Option Securities, if any, and (ii) the denominator of which is 3,000,000. For the avoidance of doubt, if the Underwriters exercise their overallotment option to purchase Option Securities in full, the Company shall not cancel or otherwise effect the forfeiture of the Founder Shares as required above.
(aa) Audited Balance Sheet. The Company shall, on the date hereof, retain its independent registered public accounting firm to audit the balance sheet of the Company as of the Closing Time (the “Audited Balance Sheet”) reflecting the receipt by the Company of the proceeds of the offering and sale of the Securities on the Closing Time. As soon as the Audited Balance Sheet becomes available, the Company shall promptly, but not later than four (4) business days after the Closing Time, file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission, which Report shall contain the Company’s Audited Balance Sheet. Additionally, upon the Company’s receipt of the proceeds from the exercise of all or any portion of the Option Securities, the Company shall promptly, but not later than four (4) business days after the receipt of such proceeds, file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission, which report shall disclose the Company’s sale of the Option Securities and its receipt of the proceeds therefrom.
(bb) Ongoing Review of Financial Statements. Until the Termination Date, the Company, at its expense, shall cause its regularly engaged independent registered public accounting firm to review (but not audit) the Company’s financial statements for each of the first three fiscal quarters of the year prior to the announcement of quarterly financial information, the filing of the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the mailing, if any, of quarterly financial information to the Company’s shareholders.
(cc) Furnishing of Financial Statements. Until the Termination Date, the Company shall, to the extent such information or documents are not otherwise publicly available, upon written request from the Representatives, furnish to the Representatives copies of such financial statements and other periodic and special reports as the Company from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any class of its securities, and promptly furnish to the Representatives: (i) a copy of such registration statements, financial statements and periodic and special reports as the Company shall be required to file with the Commission and from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any such class of its securities; and (ii) such additional documents and information with respect to the Company and the affairs of any future subsidiaries of the Company as any Underwriter may from time to time reasonably request, all subject to the execution of a satisfactory confidentiality agreement.
(dd) Audit Committee Review. Prior to the earlier of the consummation of the initial Business Combination and the Liquidation, the Company shall cause its audit committee to review and approve all payments made to the Sponsor, any of the Company’s directors, officers or special advisors, or any of the Company’s or their respective affiliates, other than those approved by the Company’s board of directors in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities.
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(ee) No Breach of Charter. The Company shall not take any action or omit to take any action that would cause the Company to be in breach or violation of its charter.
(ff) Subsequent Financial Advisory Services. For a period of 60 days following the effectiveness date of the Registration Statement, in the event any person or entity (regardless of any FINRA affiliation or association) is engaged to assist the Company in its search for a merger candidate or to provide any other merger and acquisition services, or has provided or will provide any investment banking, financial, advisory and/or consulting services to the Company, provided that the compensation for such services is “underwriting compensation” as defined in FINRA Rule 5110(j)(22) and Supplementary Material .01 thereto in connection with the offering and sale of Securities, the Company agrees that it shall promptly provide the Representatives and counsel to the Underwriters a notification prior to entering into the agreement or transaction relating to a potential Business Combination: (i) the identity of the person or entity providing any such services; (ii) complete details of all such services and copies of all agreements governing such services; and (iii) justification as to why the value received by any person or entity for such services is not underwriting compensation for the offering and sale of the Securities. The Company also agrees that proper disclosure of such arrangement or potential arrangement will be made in the tender offer materials or proxy statement, as applicable, which the Company may file in connection with the initial Business Combination for purposes of offering redemption of Public Shares held by its Public Shareholders or for soliciting shareholder approval, as applicable.
SECTION 4. Payment of Expenses.
(a) Expenses. The Company will pay or cause to be paid all expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, including (i) the preparation, printing and filing of the Registration Statement (including financial statements and exhibits) as originally filed and each amendment thereto, (ii) the preparation, printing and delivery to the Underwriters of copies of each preliminary prospectus and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto and any costs associated with electronic delivery of any of the foregoing by the Underwriters to investors, (iii) the preparation, issuance and delivery of the certificates or security entitlements for the Securities to the Underwriters, including any stock or other transfer taxes and any stamp or other duties payable upon the sale, issuance or delivery of the Securities to the Underwriters, (iv) the fees and disbursements of the Company’s counsel, accountants and other advisors, (v) the qualification of the Securities under securities laws in accordance with the provisions of Section 3(e) hereof, including filing fees and the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection therewith and in connection with the preparation of the Blue Sky Survey and any supplement thereto, (vi) the fees and expenses of the Trustee under the Trust Agreement and each registrar, transfer agent, and warrant agent for the Securities, the Class Shares and the Warrants, (vii) the costs and expenses of the Company relating to investor presentations or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or Marketing Materials undertaken in connection with the marketing of the Securities, including without limitation, expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics, fees and expenses of any consultants engaged in connection with the road show presentations, travel and lodging expenses of the representatives and officers of the Company and any such consultants, (viii) the filing fees incident to, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters in connection with, the review by FINRA of the terms of the sale of the Securities, it being understood that payment of such reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel shall not exceed $25,000, (ix) the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the listing of the Securities, the Class A Shares and the Warrants on the Exchange and (x) the costs and expenses (including, without limitation, any damages or other amounts payable in connection with legal or contractual liability) associated with the reforming of any contracts for sale of the Securities made by the Underwriters caused by a breach of the representation contained in the second sentence of Section 1(a)(ii).
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(b) Termination of Agreement. If this Agreement is terminated by the Representatives in accordance with the provisions of Section 5, Section 9(a)(i) or (iii) or Section 10 hereof, the Company shall reimburse the non-defaulting Underwriters for all of their out-of-pocket expenses, including the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters.
SECTION 5. Conditions of Underwriters’ Obligations. The obligations of the several Underwriters hereunder are subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein or in certificates of any officer of the Company delivered pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company of its covenants and other obligations hereunder, and to the following further conditions:
(a) Effectiveness of Registration Statement; Rule 430A Information. The Registration Statement, including any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, has become effective and, at the Closing Time, no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto has been issued under the 1933 Act, no order preventing or suspending the use of any preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus has been issued and no proceedings for any of those purposes have been instituted or are pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, contemplated; and the Company has complied with each request (if any) from the Commission for additional information. A prospectus containing the Rule 430A Information shall have been filed with the Commission in the manner and within the time frame required by Rule 424(b) without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8) or a post-effective amendment providing such information shall have been filed with, and declared effective by, the Commission in accordance with the requirements of Rule 430A.
(b) Opinion of Counsel for Company. At the Closing Time, the Representatives shall have received the favorable opinion, dated the Closing Time, of Shearman & Sterling LLP, U.S. counsel for the Company, and Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP, Cayman Islands counsel for the Company, in each case, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives.
(c) Opinion of Counsel for Underwriters. At the Closing Time, the Representatives shall have received the favorable opinion, dated the Closing Time, of Sidley Austin LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives.
(d) Officers’ Certificate. At the Closing Time, there shall not have been, since the date hereof or since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, any material adverse change in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business affairs or business prospects of the Company, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, and the Representatives shall have received a certificate of the Chief Executive Officer or the President of the Company and of the chief financial or chief accounting officer of the Company, dated the Closing Time, to the effect that (i) there has been no such material adverse change, (ii) the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct with the same force and effect as though expressly made at and as of the Closing Time, (iii) the Company has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to the Closing Time, and (iv) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement under the 1933 Act has been issued, no order preventing or suspending the use of any preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus has been issued and no proceedings for any of those purposes have been instituted or are pending or, to their knowledge, contemplated.
(e) Accountant’s Comfort Letter. At the time of the execution of this Agreement, the Representatives shall have received from Marcum LLP, a letter, dated such date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, together with signed or reproduced copies of such letter for each of the other Underwriters containing statements and information of the type ordinarily included in accountants’ “comfort letters” to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
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(f) Bring-Down Comfort Letter. At the Closing Time, the Representatives shall have received from Marcum LLP, a letter, dated as of the Closing Time, to the effect that they reaffirm the statements made in the letter furnished pursuant to subsection (e) of this Section, except that the specified date referred to shall be a date not more than three business days prior to the Closing Time.
(g) Approval of Listing. At the Closing Time, the Securities, the Class A Shares and the Warrants shall have been approved for listing on the Exchange, subject only to official notice of issuance.
(h) No Objection. FINRA has confirmed that it has not raised any objection with respect to the fairness and reasonableness of the underwriting terms and arrangements relating to the offering and sale of the Securities.
(i) Transactional Documents. On or prior to the date hereof, the Company shall have delivered to the Representatives executed copies of the Operative Agreements as then in full force and effect, which shall not be amended or supplemented without the prior written consent of the Representatives. With regard to the Insider Letter, if any additional persons shall become officers or directors of the Company prior to the end of the 180-day period referred to in Section 3(i), the Company shall cause each such person, prior to or contemporaneously with their appointment or election as an officer or director, to execute and deliver to the Representatives the Insider Letter.
(j) Deposit to the Trust Account. The Sponsor (at least one business day prior to the date of effectiveness of the Registration Statement) shall have caused the purchase price for the Private Placement Warrants to be deposited into the Trust Account so that together with the net proceeds from the offering and sale of the Securities (including the Deferred Discount), the Trust Account would equal at all times the product of the number of Securities sold and the public offering price per Security as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event will the Company take any action that would result in the Company receiving proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants in excess of the sum of (i) the amount required to satisfy the obligation in the immediately preceding sentence, (ii) the amount of the underwriting discount from the public offering price represented by the purchase price set forth in Schedule A of this Agreement and (iii) the amount of money to be held by the Company outside of the Trust Account, as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
(k) Conditions to Purchase of Option Securities. In the event that the Underwriters exercise their option described in Section 2(b) hereof to purchase all or any portion of the Option Securities, the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein and the statements in any certificates furnished by the Company hereunder shall be true and correct as of each Date of Delivery and, at the relevant Date of Delivery, the Representatives shall have received:
(i) Officers’ Certificate. A certificate, dated such Date of Delivery, of the President or a Vice President of the Company and of the chief financial or chief accounting officer of the Company confirming that the certificate delivered at the Closing Time pursuant to Section 5(d) hereof remains true and correct as of such Date of Delivery.
(ii) Opinion of Counsel for Company. If requested by the Representatives, the favorable opinion of Shearman & Sterling LLP, U.S. counsel for the Company, and Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP, Cayman Islands counsel for the Company, in each case, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, dated such Date of Delivery, relating to the Option Securities to be purchased on such Date of Delivery and otherwise to the same effect as the opinion required by Section 5(b) hereof.
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(iii) Opinion of Counsel for Underwriters. If requested by the Representatives, the favorable opinion of Sidley Austin LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, dated such Date of Delivery, relating to the Option Securities to be purchased on such Date of Delivery and otherwise to the same effect as the opinion required by Section 5(c) hereof.
(v) Bring-Down Comfort Letter. If requested by the Representatives, a letter from Marcum LLP, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives and dated such Date of Delivery, substantially in the same form and substance as the letter furnished to the Representatives pursuant to Section 5(e) hereof, except that the “specified date” in the letter furnished pursuant to this paragraph shall be a date not more than three business days prior to such Date of Delivery.
(l) Additional Documents. At the Closing Time and at each Date of Delivery (if any), counsel for the Underwriters shall have been furnished with such documents and opinions as they may require for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon the issuance and sale of the Securities as herein contemplated, or in order to evidence the accuracy of any of the representations or warranties, or the fulfillment of any of the conditions, herein contained; and all proceedings taken by the Company in connection with the issuance and sale of the Securities as herein contemplated shall be satisfactory in form and substance to the Representatives.
(m) Termination of Agreement. If any condition specified in this Section shall not have been fulfilled when and as required to be fulfilled, this Agreement, or, in the case of any condition to the purchase of Option Securities on a Date of Delivery which is after the Closing Time, the obligations of the several Underwriters to purchase the relevant Option Securities, may be terminated by the Representatives by notice to the Company at any time at or prior to Closing Time or such Date of Delivery, as the case may be, and such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except as provided in Section 4 and except that Sections 1, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16 and 17 shall survive any such termination and remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 6. Indemnification.
(a) Indemnification of Underwriters. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its affiliates (as such term is defined in Rule 501(b) under the 1933 Act (each, an “Affiliate”)), its selling agents and each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act as follows:
(i) against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever, as incurred, arising out of any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), including the Rule 430A Information, or the omission or alleged omission therefrom of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading or arising out of any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact included (A) in any preliminary prospectus, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto), or (B) in any materials or information, including roadshow materials, provided to investors by, or with the approval of, the Company in connection with the marketing of the offering of the Securities (“Marketing Materials”), including any road show or investor presentations made to investors by the Company (whether in person or electronically), or the omission or alleged omission in any preliminary prospectus, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, Prospectus or in any Marketing Materials of a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;
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(ii) against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever, as incurred, to the extent of the aggregate amount paid in settlement of any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or of any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue statement or omission, or any such alleged untrue statement or omission; provided that (subject to Section 6(d) below) any such settlement is effected with the written consent of the Company;
(iii) against any and all expense whatsoever, as incurred (including the fees and disbursements of counsel chosen by the Representatives), reasonably incurred in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue statement or omission, or any such alleged untrue statement or omission, to the extent that any such expense is not paid under (i) or (ii) above;
provided, however, that this indemnity agreement shall not apply to any loss, liability, claim, damage or expense to the extent arising out of any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), including the Rule 430A Information, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto) in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information.
(b) Indemnification of Company, Directors and Officers. Each Underwriter severally agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its directors, each of its officers who signed the Registration Statement, and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act, against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense described in the indemnity contained in subsection (a) of this Section, as incurred, but only with respect to untrue statements or omissions, or alleged untrue statements or omissions, made in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), including the Rule 430A Information, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto) in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information.
(c) Actions against Parties; Notification. Each indemnified party shall give notice as promptly as reasonably practicable to each indemnifying party of any action commenced against it in respect of which indemnity may be sought hereunder, but failure to so notify an indemnifying party shall not relieve such indemnifying party from any liability hereunder to the extent it is not materially prejudiced as a result thereof and in any event shall not relieve it from any liability which it may have otherwise than on account of this indemnity agreement. In the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section 6(a) above, counsel to the indemnified parties shall be selected by the Representatives, and, in the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section 6(b) above, counsel to the indemnified parties shall be selected by the Company. An indemnifying party may participate at its own expense in the defense of any such action; provided, however, that counsel to the indemnifying party shall not (except with the consent of the indemnified party) also be counsel to the indemnified party. In no event shall the indemnifying parties be liable for fees and expenses of more than one counsel (in addition to any local counsel) separate from their own counsel for all indemnified parties in connection with any one action or separate but similar or related actions in the same jurisdiction arising out of the same general allegations or circumstances. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified parties, settle or compromise or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever in respect of which indemnification or contribution could be sought under this Section 6 or Section 7 hereof (whether or not the indemnified parties are actual or potential parties thereto), unless such settlement, compromise or consent (i) includes an unconditional release of each indemnified party from all liability arising out of such litigation, investigation, proceeding or claim and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any indemnified party.
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(d) Settlement without Consent if Failure to Reimburse. If at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel, such indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of the nature contemplated by Section 6(a)(ii) effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 45 days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request, (ii) such indemnifying party shall have received notice of the terms of such settlement at least 30 days prior to such settlement being entered into and (iii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed such indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement.
SECTION 7. Contribution. If the indemnification provided for in Section 6 hereof is for any reason unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party in respect of any losses, liabilities, claims, damages or expenses referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the aggregate amount of such losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses incurred by such indemnified party, as incurred, (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other hand, from the offering and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company, on the one hand, and of the Underwriters, on the other hand, in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, liabilities, claims, damages or expenses, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations.
The relative benefits received by the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other hand, in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement shall be deemed to be in the same respective proportions as the total net proceeds from the offering and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement (before deducting expenses) received by the Company, on the one hand, and the total underwriting discount received by the Underwriters, on the other hand, in each case as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus, bear to the aggregate initial public offering price of the Securities as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus; provided, however, that, notwithstanding the foregoing, (X) the total net proceeds from the offering and sale of the Securities received by the Company shall be deemed to include the total amount of the Deferred Discount except if and when, and only to the extent that, the Deferred Discount has been actually paid in cash to the Underwriters and (Y) the total underwriting discount received by the Underwriters shall exclude the total amount of the Deferred Discount except if and when, and only to the extent that, the Deferred Discount has been actually paid in cash to the Underwriters.
The relative fault of the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other hand, shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any such untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or by the Underwriters and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission.
The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 7 were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this Section 7. The aggregate amount of losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses incurred by an indemnified party and referred to above in this Section 7 shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission.
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Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 7, no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the underwriting discount received by such Underwriter in connection with the Securities underwritten by it and distributed to the public.
No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the 1933 Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.
For purposes of this Section 7, each person, if any, who controls an Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act and each Underwriter’s Affiliates and selling agents shall have the same rights to contribution as such Underwriter, and each director of the Company, each officer of the Company who signed the Registration Statement, and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act shall have the same rights to contribution as the Company. The Underwriters’ respective obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 7 are several in proportion to the number of Initial Securities set forth opposite their respective names in Schedule A hereto and not joint.
SECTION 8. Representations, Warranties and Agreements to Survive. All representations, warranties and agreements contained in this Agreement or in certificates of officers of the Company submitted pursuant hereto, shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of (i) any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or its Affiliates or selling agents, any person controlling any Underwriter, its officers or directors or any person controlling the Company and (ii) delivery of and payment for the Securities.
SECTION 9. Termination of Agreement.
(a) Termination. The Representatives may terminate this Agreement, by notice to the Company, at any time at or prior to the Closing Time (i) if there has been, in the judgment of the Representatives, since the time of execution of this Agreement or since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, any material adverse change in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business affairs or business prospects of the Company, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, or (ii) if there has occurred any material adverse change in the financial markets in the United States or the international financial markets, any outbreak of hostilities or escalation thereof or other calamity or crisis or any change or development involving a prospective change in national or international political, financial or economic conditions, in each case the effect of which is such as to make it, in the judgment of the Representatives, impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the completion of the offering or to enforce contracts for the sale of the Securities, or (iii) if trading in any securities of the Company has been suspended or materially limited by the Commission or the Exchange, or (iv) if trading generally on the NYSE MKT or the New York Stock Exchange or in The Nasdaq Global Select Market, The Nasdaq Global Market or The Nasdaq Capital Market has been suspended or materially limited, or minimum or maximum prices for trading have been fixed, or maximum ranges for prices have been required, by any of said exchanges or by order of the Commission, FINRA or any other governmental authority, or (v) if a material disruption has occurred in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States or with respect to Clearstream or Euroclear systems in Europe, or (vi) if a banking moratorium has been declared by either Federal or New York authorities.
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(b) Liabilities. If this Agreement is terminated pursuant to this Section, such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except as provided in Section 4 hereof, and provided further that Sections 1, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16 and 17 shall survive such termination and remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 10. Default by One or More of the Underwriters. If one or more of the Underwriters shall fail at the Closing Time or a Date of Delivery to purchase the Securities which it or they are obligated to purchase under this Agreement (the “Defaulted Securities”), the Representatives shall have the right, within 24 hours thereafter, to make arrangements for one or more of the non-defaulting Underwriters, or any other underwriters, to purchase all, but not less than all, of the Defaulted Securities in such amounts as may be agreed upon and upon the terms herein set forth; if, however, the Representatives shall not have completed such arrangements within such 24-hour period, then:
(i) if the number of Defaulted Securities does not exceed 10% of the number of Securities to be purchased on such date, each of the non-defaulting Underwriters shall be obligated, severally and not jointly, to purchase the full amount thereof in the proportions that their respective underwriting obligations hereunder bear to the underwriting obligations of all non-defaulting Underwriters, or
(ii) if the number of Defaulted Securities exceeds 10% of the number of Securities to be purchased on such date, this Agreement or, with respect to any Date of Delivery which occurs after the Closing Time, the obligation of the Underwriters to purchase, and the Company to sell, the Option Securities to be purchased and sold on such Date of Delivery shall terminate without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter.
No action taken pursuant to this Section shall relieve any defaulting Underwriter from liability in respect of its default.
In the event of any such default which does not result in a termination of this Agreement or, in the case of a Date of Delivery which is after the Closing Time, which does not result in a termination of the obligation of the Underwriters to purchase and the Company to sell the relevant Option Securities, as the case may be, either the (i) Representatives or (ii) the Company shall have the right to postpone the Closing Time or the relevant Date of Delivery, as the case may be, for a period not exceeding seven days in order to effect any required changes in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or in any other documents or arrangements. As used herein, the term “Underwriter” includes any person substituted for an Underwriter under this Section 10.
SECTION 11. Notices. All notices and other communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given if mailed or transmitted by any standard form of telecommunication. Notices to the Underwriters shall be directed to BofA at One Bryant Park, New York, New York 10036, attention of Syndicate Department (email: dg.ecm_execution_services@bofa.com), with a copy to ECM Legal (email: dg.ecm_legal@bofa.com) and to JPM at 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179, attention of Equity Syndicate Desk (facsimile: (212) 622-8358); notices to the Company shall be directed to it at 770 E Technology Way F13-16, Orem, UT 84097, attention of Daniel S. Webb.
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SECTION 12. No Advisory or Fiduciary Relationship. The Company acknowledges and agrees that (a) the purchase and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement, including the determination of the initial public offering price of the Securities and any related discounts and commissions, is an arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Company, on the one hand, and the several Underwriters, on the other hand, (b) in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities and the process leading thereto, each Underwriter is and has been acting solely as a principal and is not the agent or fiduciary of the Company or its shareholders, creditors, employees or any other party, (c) no Underwriter has assumed or will assume an advisory or fiduciary responsibility in favor of the Company with respect to the offering and sale of the Securities or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether such Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company or any of its affiliates on other matters) and no Underwriter has any obligation to the Company with respect to the offering and sale of the Securities except the obligations expressly set forth in this Agreement, (d) the Underwriters and their respective affiliates may be engaged in a broad range of transactions that involve interests that differ from those of the Company and (e) the Underwriters have not provided any legal, accounting, regulatory, investment or tax advice with respect to the offering and sale of the Securities and the Company has consulted its own legal, accounting, financial, regulatory and tax advisors to the extent it deemed appropriate, and (f) none of the activities of the Underwriters in connection with the transactions contemplated herein constitutes a recommendation, investment advice or solicitation of any action by the Underwriters with respect to any entity or natural person.
SECTION 13. Recognition of the U.S. Special Resolution Regimes.
(a) In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, the transfer from such Underwriter of this Agreement, and any interest and obligation in or under this Agreement, will be effective to the same extent as the transfer would be effective under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement, and any such interest and obligation, were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.
(b) In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity or a BHC Act Affiliate of such Underwriter becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, Default Rights under this Agreement that may be exercised against such Underwriter are permitted to be exercised to no greater extent than such Default Rights could be exercised under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.
For purposes of this Section 13, a “BHC Act Affiliate” has the meaning assigned to the term “affiliate” in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 U.S.C. § 1841(k). “Covered Entity” means any of the following: (i) a “covered entity” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 252.82(b); (ii) a “covered bank” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 47.3(b); or (iii) a “covered FSI” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 382.2(b). “Default Right” has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable. “U.S. Special Resolution Regime” means each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
SECTION 14. Parties. This Agreement shall each inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the Underwriters and the Company and their respective successors. Nothing expressed or mentioned in this Agreement is intended or shall be construed to give any person, firm or corporation, other than the Underwriters and the Company and their respective successors and the controlling persons and officers and directors referred to in Sections 6 and 7 and their heirs and legal representatives, any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of this Agreement or any provision herein contained. This Agreement and all conditions and provisions hereof are intended to be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the Underwriters and the Company and their respective successors, and said controlling persons and officers and directors and their heirs and legal representatives, and for the benefit of no other person, firm or corporation. No purchaser of Securities from any Underwriter shall be deemed to be a successor by reason merely of such purchase.
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SECTION 15. Trial by Jury. The Company (on its behalf and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, on behalf of its shareholders and affiliates) and each of the Underwriters hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.
SECTION 16. GOVERNING LAW. THIS AGREEMENT AND ANY CLAIM, CONTROVERSY OR DISPUTE ARISING UNDER OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY, AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK WITHOUT REGARD TO ITS CHOICE OF LAW PROVISIONS.
SECTION 17. Consent to Jurisdiction; Waiver of Immunity. Any legal suit, action or other proceeding arising out of or based upon this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby (“Related Proceedings”) shall be instituted in (i) the federal courts of the United States of America located in the City and County of New York, Borough of Manhattan or (ii) the courts of the State of New York located in the City and County of New York, Borough of Manhattan (collectively, the “Specified Courts”), and each party irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction (except for proceedings instituted in regard to the enforcement of a judgment of any such court (a “Related Judgment”), as to which such jurisdiction is non-exclusive) of such courts in any such suit, action or other proceeding. Service of any process, summons, notice or document by mail to such party’s address set forth above shall be effective service of process for any suit, action or other proceeding brought in any such court. The parties irrevocably and unconditionally waive any objection to the laying of venue of any suit, action or other proceeding in the Specified Courts and irrevocably and unconditionally waive and agree not to plead or claim in any such court that any such suit, action or other proceeding brought in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.
SECTION 18. TIME. TIME SHALL BE OF THE ESSENCE OF THIS AGREEMENT. EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE SET FORTH HEREIN, SPECIFIED TIMES OF DAY REFER TO NEW YORK CITY TIME.
SECTION 19. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same Agreement. Counterparts may be delivered via facsimile, electronic mail (including any electronic signature covered by the U.S. federal ESIGN Act of 2000, Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, the Electronic Signatures and Records Act or other applicable law) or other transmission method and any counterpart so delivered shall be deemed to have been duly and validly delivered and be valid and effective for all purposes.
SECTION 20. Effect of Headings. The Section headings herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof.
[Signature page follows]
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If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding of our agreement, please sign and return to the Company a counterpart hereof, whereupon this instrument, along with all counterparts, will become a binding agreement among the Underwriters and the Company in accordance with its terms.
| Very truly yours, | ||
| WORLDWIDE WEBB ACQUISITION CORP. | ||
| By | ||
| Name: Daniel S. Webb | ||
| Title: CEO | ||
| CONFIRMED AND ACCEPTED, | ||
| as of the date first above written: | ||
| BOFA SECURITIES, INC. | ||
| By: | ||
| Authorized Signatory | ||
| J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC | ||
| By: | ||
| Authorized Signatory | ||
For themselves and as Representatives of the other Underwriters named in Schedule A hereto.
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SCHEDULE A
The initial public offering price for the Securities shall be $10.00 per Security.
The purchase price for the Securities to be paid by the several Underwriters shall be $9.80 per Security, subject to adjustment in accordance with Section 2(b) for dividends or distributions declared by the Company and paid or payable on the Initial Securities but not payable on the Option Securities. The underwriting discounts and commissions shall be $0.55 per Security, including $0.35 per Security in the aggregate payable to the Underwriters for the Deferred Discount to be deposited into the Trust Account and released to the Underwriters upon completion of the initial Business Combination in accordance with the Trust Agreement.
| Name of Underwriter | Number of Initial Securities | |
| BofA Securities, Inc. | ||
| J.P. Morgan Securities LLC | ||
| Total | 20,000,000 |
SCHEDULE B-1
Pricing Terms
1. The Company is selling 20,000,000 Units.
2. The Company has granted an option to the Underwriters, severally and not jointly, to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 Units.
3. The initial public offering price for the Securities shall be $10.00 per Security.
SCHEDULE B-2
Written Testing-the-Waters Communications: [TBD]
Exhibit 23.1
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM’S CONSENT
We consent to the inclusion in this Registration Statement of Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. on Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1 (File No. 333-259801) of our report dated April 2, 2021, except for Warrant Amendments in Note 5, Warrant Liabilities in Note 6, and Subsequent Events in Note 8, as to which the date is September 24, 2021, which includes an explanatory paragraph as to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, with respect to our audit of the financial statements of Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp as of March 5, 2021 and for the period from March 5, 2021 (inception) through March 5, 2021, which report appears in the Prospectus, which is part of this Registration Statement. We also consent to the reference to our Firm under the heading “Experts” in such Prospectus.
/s/ Marcum llp
Marcum llp
Los Angeles, CA
September 29, 2021
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